MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic battled with a decrease back harm as he claimed his 11th spherical of 16 appearance at the Australian Open on Saturday.
The six-time champion advanced with a simple 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win over Spanish 21st seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in 2hr 21min on Margaret Court Arena.
But there was concern within the Serb's camp when the previous global No.1 sought a scientific timeout early in the second one set for treatment to his decrease back.
Djokovic, searching for suits after six months out with proper elbow trouble, will next face South Korea's Chung Hyeon in Sunday's fourth spherical after he surprised Alexander Zverev.
The harm was a fresh concern for the 12-time Grand Slam champion, whose score has slipped to 14 after an inactive 2d part of 2017.
But Djokovic was workmanlike as broke the Spaniard's serve 5 instances, even if his errors outnumbered his winners 40-37.
"It was a straight sets win, but it was almost two-and-a-half hours, so it wasn't that easy and comfortable on the court," Djokovic stated.
"I knew coming into the match that he was an excellent fighter, he grinds it out and gets a lot of balls back.
"Obviously for me it's taking it one match at a time however I need to be extra humble with my expectancies as I haven't performed within the ultimate six months.
"But I am very pleased where my game is at."
Should Djokovic beat Chung he is going through a potential quarter-final towards Austria's fifth seed Dominic Thiem, who must first get past American surprise packet Tennys Sandgren on Monday.
The six-time champion advanced with a simple 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win over Spanish 21st seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in 2hr 21min on Margaret Court Arena.
But there was concern within the Serb's camp when the previous global No.1 sought a scientific timeout early in the second one set for treatment to his decrease back.
Djokovic, searching for suits after six months out with proper elbow trouble, will next face South Korea's Chung Hyeon in Sunday's fourth spherical after he surprised Alexander Zverev.
The harm was a fresh concern for the 12-time Grand Slam champion, whose score has slipped to 14 after an inactive 2d part of 2017.
But Djokovic was workmanlike as broke the Spaniard's serve 5 instances, even if his errors outnumbered his winners 40-37.
"It was a straight sets win, but it was almost two-and-a-half hours, so it wasn't that easy and comfortable on the court," Djokovic stated.
"I knew coming into the match that he was an excellent fighter, he grinds it out and gets a lot of balls back.
"Obviously for me it's taking it one match at a time however I need to be extra humble with my expectancies as I haven't performed within the ultimate six months.
"But I am very pleased where my game is at."
Should Djokovic beat Chung he is going through a potential quarter-final towards Austria's fifth seed Dominic Thiem, who must first get past American surprise packet Tennys Sandgren on Monday.
Djokovic powers into 11th Australian Open fourth round
![Djokovic powers into 11th Australian Open fourth round]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
January 20, 2018
Rating:
