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The best player in Tennis, Novak Djokovic looks to continue a strong 2016 Australian Open campaign when he takes on fellow seeded player Gilles Simon of France in the fourth round. Join The Roar for live scores from around 2:00pm (AEDT).
Djokovic has been in blistering form this summer, despite only playing one tournament into the lead up for the Australian Open. Winning five matches in straight sets at the Doha event was the best perpetration anyone could ever want for a Grand Slam and so far he hasn’t disappointed.
He is yet to drop a set throughout the Australian Open after three rounds. First it would be Hyeon Chung who fell by the way-side, before Quentin Halys bit the dust. His third round battle was the first time he had even looked like he might be raising a sweat as Andreas Seppi pushed him hard but was unable to win a set.
Simon on the other hand was in patchy form to put it lightly in the lead up of the Australian Open. He participated in Kooyong and Brisbane, unable to win a match in either against players ranked much lower than him.
From there though, he has been impressive in the Open. After winning the first match against Vasek Pospisil in four sets, he was then taken all the way to five sets by Evgeny Donskoy.
From there though, he took on Frederico Delbonis only dropping six games across three sets of Tennis in a stellar effort.
Previously, the pair have matched up on 10 occasions, with Djokovic winning nine of them. They have played a lot of fierce battles though, with many of their matches going the full distance.
In saying that, they have only met once at a Grand Slam, which was in 2014, at the third round of Wimbledon. Djokovic would go on to take that game in straight sets.
Simon has not won a match against the world No.1 since their first meeting against each other, way back in 2008. Since that day he hasn’t defeated Djokovic, nor ever looked comfortable playing against him.
Prediction
It is impossible to see Djokovic losing, however Simon is a fighter and has played some epic matches against Djokovic before that have gone the full distance, although never at a Grand Slam level. They say there is a first time for everything though.
Djokovic in five sets.
Join The Roar for live scores of this clash from 2:00pm (AEDT) and if you’re following along with the match, be sure to add your own comments in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde