Novak Djokovic Ease Into fourth round while Tsitsipas, De Minuar, Sinner Advance

Novak Djokovic eased past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(2) with a high-class, all-around display inside Rod laver Arena on at the Australian Open on Friday.

The 36-year-old and 10-time Australia Open winner did not face a break point and broke some late Etcheverry resistance in the third-set tie-break as he ran out a comprehensive winner across two hours and 28 minutes in his 100th Australian Open match.

“It was a great match, I think. The best performance I had during this tournament,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview. “Obviously I’m pleased with the way I played throughout the entire match, particularly the first two sets.

“He stepped it up, raised his level of tennis probably one or two levels in the third set and we went toe-to-toe. In the tie-break I guess I just found the right shots, the right serves, and closed it out in straights.”

He next faces a fourth-round clash with 20th seed Adrian Mannarino, who won his 11th consecutive five-set match against American Ben Shelton.

Elsewhere, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz are set to meet at the Australian Open for the second time after both men advanced to the fourth round with Friday wins in Melbourne.

Tsitsipas, who leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 3-1, won their 2022 AO meeting at the same stage, though Fritz claimed their most recent matchup at the 2023 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Returning finalist Tsitsipas scored his first straight-sets win of this fortnight with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 result against #NextGen ATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche while advanced to that stage for the second time with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win against Fabian Marozsan.

Alex De Minaur powered to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 third-round victory against Flavio Cobolli on Friday to continue his red-hot start to the season in Melbourne.

The highest-ranked home favourite in the draw will be confident of reaching his first Australian Open quarter-final when he next takes on Andrey Rublev.

Jannik Sinner continues to dominate at the Australian Open, with his Friday win against 26th seed Sebastian Baez.

The Italian earned his third straight-sets victory of the tournament with an authoritative display in a 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 triumph against the Argentine to return to the Melbourne fourth round for the third straight year and will next face Karen Khachanov.