Man on a mission, Djokovic comes through Couacaud test

MELBOURNE : Novak Djokovic had to dig deep at times against French qualifier Enzo Couacaud but rolled into the third round 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0 on Thursday to continue his quest for a 10th Australian Open crown and a 22nd Grand Slam title.

The Serbian looked at his imperious best as he eased through the opening set but hit a roadblock in the 74-minute second when world number 191 Couacaud upped his pace and intensity to level up the contest in a tiebreak.

Fourth seed Djokovic changed his shirt and brought in the heavy artillery to whip through the final two sets on Rod Laver Arena and set up a third-round date with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.

The 35-year-old took a medical time out to change the strapping on his left thigh in the second set but otherwise appeared largely unhindered by the hamstring niggle he sustained at a warm-up tournament in Adelaide two weeks ago.