It’ll be a battle of the generations when Novak Djokovic looks to continue his return to tennis in the fourth round of the Australian Open against in-form Korean Hyeon Chung. Join The Roar for live scores from around 7pm (AEDT).
After spending the better part of six months on the sidelines, Djokovic has made a solid return so far at the Australian Open, but this will be by far his biggest challenge yet.
On one hand, the draw looked like it had opened up with Stan Wawrinka bundled out, but the test against Chung may be even tougher.
The Korean is in fine form, whereas Wawrinka was in anything but fine form, struggling to return from injury before being knocked out.
Djokovic hasn’t started the tournament poorly though and has had some tough matches himself. The 14th seed was extremely strong in the first and third rounds as he disposed of Donald Young and Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets, but the match in the middle against Gael Monfils pushed him.
Played in punishing 40-degree heat, Djokovic was under the pump dropping the first set, before he fought back to win in four. His cause was aided greatly by the heat exhaustion Monfils suffered, but if it showed nothing else, Djokovic is fit and firing.
Chung has pulled off a huge upset to keep his tournament going though. After Mischa Zverev retired against him in the first round and he went past Daniil Medvedev in the second, he took five sets to go past world No.4 Alexander Zverev.
The match was high quality, but the way Chung ran away with the final two sets 6-3, 6-0 was tremendous and will fill him with confidence to make a serious run during the second week of the slam.
The pair have played once before, with Djokovic winning their first-round meeting at the 2016 Australian Open in straight sets. They were very different times though, with the Djoker at the top of the tennis world and Chung just 19 years of age.
It means almost nothing ahead of their second meeting, with the winner set to play either Dominic Thiem or Tennys Sandgren.
Prediction
Djokovic should have too much for Chung based on experience alone, but this is anyone’s match. Chung has played out of his skin so far, but another upset looks like it might be a bridge too far against the defensive resilience of Djokovic.
Djokovic in four sets
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this fourth-round match from 7pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
doogs
Guest
Did not see all of the match but what id did see Chung played some inspired tennis and was unbeatable on the night. Congrats to Korea and their first first quarter finalist here
Scott Pryde
Expert
Novak Djokovic, out in straight sets. Incredible.
Scott Pryde
Expert
It's going to be a long way back for Novak here. He finds himself down 7-6, 7-5 after two sets.