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Novak Djokovic is brimming with confidence, having bolstered his status as Australian Open favourite by dismissing Fernando Verdasco in straight sets to reach the fourth round.
Four-time champion Djokovic, facing his first serious test of the tournament against the 31st seed, triumphed 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 6-4 on Saturday night.
Djokovic was bothered by a flu and stomach bug in the lead-up to the event, but showed he was fully fit by serving at a tick under 75 per cent against former semi-finalist Verdasco.
Never before at the Australian Open has Djokovic managed such a high conversion in a match.
“I didn’t give him too many of the similar serves. I changed the pace, the angles .. to not give him rhythm,” Djokovic said.
Coupled with his outstanding record on Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic has every reason to feel buoyant in the second week.
“It’s a great confidence booster if you are on the court, if you have great memories and you won the tournament four times,” Djokovic said.
“I’m always trying to have that in the back of my mind, the great performances I had over the years. I try to use that in my advantage.”
The world No.1 next faces Gilles Muller, the unseeded Luxembourgian, who had never progressed beyond the third round in Melbourne before beating John Isner in straight sets on Saturday.
A quarter-final against eighth seed Milos Raonic or Feliciano Lopez is likely to follow, as the Serb starts to ramp up his bid for an eighth grand slam title.
Djokovic always looked a class above Verdasco on Rod Laver Arena, but the Spaniard showed plenty of pluck in an opening set that lasted an hour.
Verdasco saved six break points to scrap his way to a first-set tiebreak, while Djokovic had dropped just four points on serve at that point.
“It was frustrating, but I had to keep it together,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview, then asking the crowd to sing Happy Birthday for his mother.
The underdog took a 5-3 lead in the breaker, but an unforgivable double-fault followed.
Verdasco continued to fight and fended off three set points, but the top seed was not to be denied.
Verdasco’s three break points in the match all came early in the second set, when he had a golden chance to break back at 40-0.
Djokovic’s response was emphatic – three consecutive aces.
The 27-year-old held serve and rampaged his way to victory in two hours and 21 minutes.
As has so often been the case in Djokovic’s career, he regularly managed to reel off an astonishing return when the point looked over.
Meanwhile, 19th seed and renowned marathon man Isner went down 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 to Muller earlier in the night session.
The American giant broke his racquet in anger after losing the second-set tiebreak.
The men’s action on Saturday ended with ninth seed David Ferrer beating Gilles Simon 6-2 7-5 5-7 7-6 (7-4) in three hours and 37 minutes.
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