Top seed Novak Djokovic lost a set to Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov but cleaned up his game in time to reach fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-0 victory on Saturday.
Djokovic’s request to turn off the artificial lights was ignored during the third set. He lost his composure temporarily losing two consecutive break of serves to concede the third set.
“The lights being switched on at 5pm was completely unnecessary,” Djokovic said, adding that he should not have let it get to him. “I was agitated. It should not happen to me. I should know better. I have experience. But it does happen. I allowed him to come back to the match. Other than when I was 4-1, 4-2 up in the third set and had a little let-down, I thought I played well, especially in the fourth set. I expected Denis to come out and be aggressive. He made a lot of unforced errors for the first set and a half. I just stayed solid from back of the court and served well, played the right shots. But I like the fact that I was tested.”
On the women’s side, number 1 seed Simona Halep sent American Venus Williams packing with 6-2, 6-3 victory. Halep next plays Serena Williams.