Australian Open: Djokovic battles rowdy fans and niggle to blast into the third round

Nine-time champion at the Rod Laver Arena, Novak Djokovic on Thursday progressed to the third round of the Australian Open, battling a hamstring niggle and some unruly elements in the crowd.

Djokovic won 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-0 againstFrenchman Enzo Couacaud. The 191-ranked ATP player managed to push Djokovic to the fourth set and at one point, threatened to pull off another upset.

Djokovic had a hamstring issue which hindered his movement across the court. AfterCouacaud took the second set via tiebreaker, it looked like the Serb may have a tough time staying with his competition.

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The 27-year-old Frenchman, who had attributed the game against Djovokicas the 'biggest' of his career, regularly came up the net and used Djokovic's immobility to his advantage.

However, the 21-time Grand Slam winner dug in deep, used his experience and managed to break Couacaud on his first serve in the third set.

After racing to a 3-0 advantage, Djokovic comfortably wrapped the set and did not allow any breathing room in the fourth set to Couacaud.

Apart from the slight niggle, Djokovic also had to contend with a few drunk spectators who repeatedly attempted to provoke the 'Serb'.

During the third set, Djokovic went to the chair umpire, complaining that the crowd member be kicked out for being "drunk out of his mind".

"The guy is drunk out of his mind, from the first point he's been provoking me.He's not here to watch tennis, he just wants to get in my head."

The chair umpire refused to intervene at the time but the security officers could be seen escorting four beer-guzzling spectators out of the stadium later.

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"A lot was happening in tonight's match. Enzo deserves credit for the fight, he played some great tennis, especially in the second set and for deservedly pushing the match to the fourth set," said Djokovic after the match.

"We both had medical timeouts and struggled a little but, but I managed to respond well in the third and especially the fourth."

Djokovic will be meeting Grigor Dimitrov in the next round. The Serb has a good record against the Bulgarian, winning nine times out of the 10 they have squared up against each other.

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The last time Dimitrov came up top against Djokovic was at the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid in 2013.

"I haven't played Grigor in many years, I don't think we've ever faced each other here on this court," said Djokovic on the match-up.

"Hopefully it's going to be an entertaining match, I know him really well, we are friends off the court, Balkan brothers. Let the better player win."

With three of the top 10 seeds viz.Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud and Taylor Fritzalready out of the tournament, the path to a 22nd Major looks increasingly promising for Djokovic.

(With inputs from agencies)

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