Defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic's dominance at the Rod Laver Arena nearly came to an end by Frances Tiafoe, but the Serbian ace bounced back to win the thrilling contest by 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 6-3 win to reach the third round of the Grand Slam.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/not-great-nadal-cruises-despite-lingering-back-injury-362500" hreflang="en">'Not great' - Nadal cruises despite lingering back injury</a>

"Very tough match. when the sun was on the court it was very warm. A lot of long rallies," said Djokovic. "A great fight from Frances, a great match on his part.

"But it's not the first time I've been in that kind of situation, I know how to handle this type of circumstance."

The Serb was quick to win the first set, but Tiafoe refused to concede and won the next round. The American was close to secure the next round but Djokovic fought hard to win the set and dominating the final one.&nbsp;

Tiafoe's fight reminded many of his prolific run during the 2019 Aussie Open, where the American entered the quarter-finals.&nbsp;

Djokovic will next play another American, either Taylor Fritz or Reilly Opelka.

Djokovic, who dropped only six games in his opening round clash, had never played Tiafoe, but quickly adapted.

The Serbian player is chasing an 18th Slam crown to close in on the 20 held by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, has won a record eight times in Melbourne.

Defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic's dominance at the Rod Laver Arena nearly came to an end by Frances Tiafoe, but the Serbian ace bounced back to win the thrilling contest by 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 6-3 win to reach the third round of the Grand Slam.

Defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic's dominance at the Rod Laver Arena nearly came to an end by Frances Tiafoe, but the Serbian ace bounced back to win the thrilling contest by 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 6-3 win to reach the third round of the Grand Slam. ALSO READ: 'Not great' - Nadal cruises despite lingering back injury "Very tough match. when the sun was on the court it was very warm. A lot of long rallies," said Djokovic. "A great fight from Frances, a great match on his part. "But it's not the first time I've been in that kind of situation, I know how to handle this type of circumstance." The Serb was quick to win the first set, but Tiafoe refused to concede and won the next round. The American was close to secure the next round but Djokovic fought hard to win the set and dominating the final one. Tiafoe's fight reminded many of his prolific run during the 2019 Aussie Open, where the American entered the quarter-finals. Djokovic will next play another American, either Taylor Fritz or Reilly Opelka. Djokovic, who dropped only six games in his opening round clash, had never played Tiafoe, but quickly adapted. The Serbian player is chasing an 18th Slam crown to close in on the 20 held by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, has won a record eight times in Melbourne.

Australian Open 2021: Djokovic goes into third round after hard fought win against Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe's title defence wilted but Juan Martin del Potro looked fully recovered from his knee injury to cruise to a 6-3 7-5 win over Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round of the Delray Beach Open on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Tiafoe looked to have the match against qualifier Dan Evans in hand when he served up 6-5 and 30-love in the second set but was instead broken by Evans, whose aggressive net play frustrated Tiafoe in the final two sets as the Briton eventually prevailed 3-6 7-6(1) 7-5.

Late drama arose when Evans served for the match up 5-4 in the third set but nerves appeared to get to him and he was broken amid a flurry of unforced errors.

But Tiafoe was broken in the next game and Evans made sure not to make the same mistake twice, winning his final service game at love to set up a second-round match against tournament wild card Lloyd Harris of South Africa.

World number four del Potro, who missed last month's Australian Open to nurse the kneecap he fractured at the Shanghai Masters, showed no ill effects in his first match of the year as he blasted 12 aces to see off baseline specialist Nishioka.

The hard-hitting Argentine is looking to pick up where he left off before the injury, when his superb play made him a finalist at the U.S. and China Opens and helped the 30-year-old reach a career-high ranking of world number three.

Del Potro, who won the tournament in Florida in 2011, will next face big-serving American Reilly Opelka after last week's New York Open champion saw off countryman Tennys Sandgren 6-4 6-0 earlier in the day.

Top American men's player John Isner used his blistering serve to overwhelm Canadian Peter Polansky 6-3 7-6(4) and advance to the second round.

The second-seeded Isner fired 23 aces to Polansky's four and won 87 per cent of his first serve points as he cruised to victory.

Next up for Isner is a second-round meeting with unseeded Slovak Lukas Lacko on Wednesday.

Adrian Mannarino, Andreas Seppi, Paolo Lorenzi, Jordan Thompson, Steve Johnson, Mackenzie McDonald, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Radu Albot also won their first round matches on Tuesday at the ATP World Tour 250 event, which is played on outdoor hard courts.

Frances Tiafoe's title defence wilted but Juan Martin del Potro looked fully recovered from his knee injury to cruise to a 6-3 7-5 win over Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round of the Delray Beach Open on Tuesday.

Frances Tiafoe's title defence wilted but Juan Martin del Potro looked fully recovered from his knee injury to cruise to a 6-3 7-5 win over Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round of the Delray Beach Open on Tuesday. The third-seeded Tiafoe looked to have the match against qualifier Dan Evans in hand when he served up 6-5 and 30-love in the second set but was instead broken by Evans, whose aggressive net play frustrated Tiafoe in the final two sets as the Briton eventually prevailed 3-6 7-6(1) 7-5. Late drama arose when Evans served for the match up 5-4 in the third set but nerves appeared to get to him and he was broken amid a flurry of unforced errors. But Tiafoe was broken in the next game and Evans made sure not to make the same mistake twice, winning his final service game at love to set up a second-round match against tournament wild card Lloyd Harris of South Africa. World number four del Potro, who missed last month's Australian Open to nurse the kneecap he fractured at the Shanghai Masters, showed no ill effects in his first match of the year as he blasted 12 aces to see off baseline specialist Nishioka. The hard-hitting Argentine is looking to pick up where he left off before the injury, when his superb play made him a finalist at the U.S. and China Opens and helped the 30-year-old reach a career-high ranking of world number three. Del Potro, who won the tournament in Florida in 2011, will next face big-serving American Reilly Opelka after last week's New York Open champion saw off countryman Tennys Sandgren 6-4 6-0 earlier in the day. Top American men's player John Isner used his blistering serve to overwhelm Canadian Peter Polansky 6-3 7-6(4) and advance to the second round. The second-seeded Isner fired 23 aces to Polansky's four and won 87 per cent of his first serve points as he cruised to victory. Next up for Isner is a second-round meeting with unseeded Slovak Lukas Lacko on Wednesday. Adrian Mannarino, Andreas Seppi, Paolo Lorenzi, Jordan Thompson, Steve Johnson, Mackenzie McDonald, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Radu Albot also won their first round matches on Tuesday at the ATP World Tour 250 event, which is played on outdoor hard courts.

Frances Tiafoe crashes out, Del Potro advances at Delray Beach Open

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