Novak is through to the Australian Open quarter-finals for the eighth year in a row after he beat big-serving Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 on Monday at Rod Laver Arena.
The top seed broke his rival to 15 for a 4-3 lead in the opening set after an outstanding defensive lob that created the chance. He closed it out three games later.
Djokovic converted his opportunities in the 11th game of the second and third sets to complete the victory in two hours and eight minutes.
“Obviously not playing Gilles before was tricky,” Novak said. “I knew his game, I knew he deserved a lot of respect. I was fortunate to serve very well at important moments in the third set. It was very hard to read his serve, he’s got an exceptional sliced serve, comes to the net and has a lot of variety in his game. I did find it uncomfortable at times but I fought my way through.”
The world no.1 won 82 per cent of points behind his first serve and saved all four break points he faced during the first career meeting between the two.
Match statistics: aces (13-7), double faults (4-0), winners (47-37), unforced errors (16-32), total points won (108-89).
Novak will look to reach the semi-finals at Melbourne Park for the fifth time when he faces eighth-seeded Milos Raonic (4-0 H2H) on Wednesday.
The Canadian prevailed over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in five sets (6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3).
Looking ahead to the clash with Raonic, Novak said: “I played Milos in finals of Bercy last time. I know what to expect. We practice a lot. We’re good friends. He’s very confident. He’s been playing some great tennis in last 15 months. He deserves to be where he is now, top 10, coming closer to top 5 of the world. Definitely a tough one. I need to be at my best, top of my game, in order to win that match.“
Djokovic is yet to drop a set as he looks to become the second man in history to win the Australian Open crown for the fifth time.
The Belgrade native won his maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne in 2008 (d. Tsonga) and went on to win three successive trophies from 2011-2013.
Australian Open 2015 Photo Gallery
Photo: Getty Images
