Novak Djokovic battled through injury to reach the Australian Open third round on another day when more of his expected title rivals were knocked out.The 35-year-old Serb, going for a record-extending 10th men’s triumph in Melbourne, won 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-0 against French qualifier, Enzo Couacaud.
Djokovic had a medical timeout, seemingly hampered by an existing hamstring injury, but came through.
A day after Rafael Nadal exited, second seed, Casper Ruud, was also beaten.
The Norwegian, who reached two Grand Slam finals last year, lost 6-3 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 to American Jenson Brooksby.
In the same quarter of the draw, eighth seed, Taylor Fritz, also lost 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 to Australian wildcard, Alexei Popyrin.
Twelfth seed, Alexander Zverev, still in the early days of his return from a serious ankle injury, was beaten 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-3 6-2 by lucky loser, Michael Mmoh, who said he had to change his flight because he had expected to already be out.
Russian fifth seed, Andrey Rublev, suffered no such upset, beating Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 to set up a third-round meeting with Britain’s Dan Evans. —BBC
