Novak Djokovic battles past Alexei Popyrin and Melbourne crowd to reach Australian Open third round

Novak Djokovic had to work hard for the second match in a row at the Australian Open, as he battled past home favourite Alexei Popyrin to reach round three.

The world No. 1 had most of the Rod Laver Crowd against him but came through to win 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, setting up a match with 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina next.

Djokovic, who is aiming to become the first player to win 25 grand slam singles titles, was again seen regularly stretching out a wrist issue but did not require treatment.

Popyrin put up stubborn resistance, buoyed by the crowd behind him, but despite looking short of energy at stages, Djokovic was able to progress.

But he has now spent a combined over seven hours on court, following his four-hour victory over Dino Prizmic on day one.

In the opening set, Popyrin faced break points in the fourth and sixth games, with Nick Kyrgios on Eurosport and discovery+ commentary saying Djokovic’s aura was enough to put opponents under pressure.

Finally he got the breakthrough he was after in the eighth game. At 15-40, Djokovic produced a point full of athleticism as he resisted Popyrin’s powerful hitting, racing to the net to put away a winner.

“Wow – settle down Nole,” said Kyrgios. “Best defender of all time? Arguably. 36? More like 26.”

Djokovic served out the set with ease – a double handed backhand down the line providing too much for Popyrin, as he took the opener inside 39 minutes.

Things were going to plan for the world No. 1 but he looked frustrated at the start of the second set.

Popyrin found himself with two break points in the fourth game after Djokovic produced a floated forehand which went long and the Australian took full advantage. This time, he matched Djokovic’s running, punishing a drop shot with a response on the angle at the net, which set up an easy put away.

The home favourite was locked in, and the crowd inside Rod Laver Arena were responding emphatically.

Djokovic went into the tournament having been struggling with a wrist injury, while he has also spoken about feeling under the weather this week. Kyrgios wondered whether that was having impact: “When’s the last time we’ve seen this many forehand errors?” he asked.

Serving for the set at 5-3, Popyrin found himself immediately under pressure and went 0-40 down. The 24-year-old saved two of the break back points but Djokovic took the final opportunity to get back on serve.

Popyrin responded impressively though, and Djokovic gave him an opportunity to immediately break again with a shot into the net. He saved the first break point with an ace, but Popyrin produced a superb lob to take the set 6-4, pointing to his ear as the crowd responded.

The start of the third set was of the highest quality, with Popyrin playing at the top of his game and clearly fuelled by adrenaline. But as Kyrgios said in commentary, “you don’t want to poke the bear” and Djokovic produced his first love service game in almost two sets to make it 2-2.

It was on serve at 3-2 when the trainer was called on court to assess and treat Popyrin, who looked to be struggling with a left calf problem.

Once back on court, the Australian seemed relatively untroubled and it was Djokovic who looked low on energy. The Serbian went 0-40 down when trailing 5-4, but he saved all three set points and levelled the score at 5-5.

The third set was to be settled by a tie break, described by Kyrgios as the biggest of Popyrin’s career. He hit a wild attempted winner wide on one of his serves to go 3-2 down and Djokovic hit a brilliant winner down the line on the run to consolidate.

Having saved set points in the 10th game, he took the first on offer to take a two sets to one lead.

Djokovic was involved in a tense exchange with someone in the crowd near the start of the fourth set but it seemed to fire the 36-year-old up. He broke Popyrin to love in the sixth game to go 4-2 up.

“He looks like a different player,” said Kyrgios, with Djokovic seemingly now heading for victory. He sealed the fourth set 6-3 to complete the match, turning to the offending area in the crowd with a passionate celebration.