NOVAK Djokovic is on course for another Australian Open triumph after securing a third round berth today.
The Serb, who has more Australian Open men’s singles titles than any other player in history, defeated Enzo Couacaud 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0 and will play Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.
Djokovic is in the hunt for his 10th Australian Open title and a 22nd Grand Slam success to tie Rafael Nadal in the all-time list.
Also today, Casper Ruud was beaten by hard-hitting American Jenson Brooksby to leave the Australian Open draw without its top two men’s seeds after two rounds.
The Norwegian second seed, last year’s French and US Open runner-up, was chasing a first Grand Slam title and the chance to become world number one.
But the 24-year-old was outplayed by the world number 39 in a 6-3 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 defeat in the second round.
His exit follows injured top seed Rafael Nadal’s loss on Wednesday.
Tommy Paul needed five sets to defeat No.30 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2 2-6 6-7 6-3 6-4.
In one of the biggest upsets in recent years, unseeded American with Nigerian heritage Michael Mmoh claimed the biggest win of his career, beating Alexander Zverev 6-7 6-4 6-3 6-2 to advance to his first-ever Grand Slam third round.
Only days ago, lucky loser Mmoh was packing his bags for the return trip to the US after falling to Alexander Vukic in the final round of qualifying.
A late call-up to the main draw handed the world No.107 another shot and he followed up a five-set win over Laurent Lokoli with the stunning victory over 12th seed Zverev today.
Also today, Holger Rune beat Maxime Cressy 7-5 6-4 6-4, while Benjamin Bonzi came back from two sets down to stop No.14 Pablo Carreño Busta 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1, 7-6(10-4).
Home boy Alexei Popyrin had his name chanted by the crowd after a career-defining victory.
The 23-year-old Australian was left emotional after a 6-7(4) 7-6(2) 6-4 6-7(6) 6-2 upset win over eighth seed Taylor Fritz.
In women’s singles, playing her first Australian Open, Linda Fruhvirtová ended Kim Birrell’s run to advance to the third round, the young Czech winning 6-3 6-2.
World No.4 Caroline Garcia battled past Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 7-6(5) 7-5 to return to the last 32 in Melbourne for the first time since 2019.
