Australian Open: Novak Djokovic storms into fourth round with straight-sets win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry

Novak Djokovic stormed into the fourth round of the Australian Open, beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-2) on Friday in Melbourne.

Djokovic, who had suffered second-set wobbles in each of his prior two wins, had no such drama in overcoming 30th seed Etcheverry, who had defeated Andy Murray in the first round.

The record 24-time Grand Slam winner earned his first break of serve in the sixth game of the match, taking his opponent to deuce and then earning the second of two break opportunities with a terrific drop shot before Etcheverry missed a groundstroke to hand him the game.

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Djokovic comfortably served out the set, before then quickly breaking Etcheverry again in the second. With the Argentine, meanwhile, unable to get any sort of opening on the Serb's serve, he was broken again to see the second set slip away.

Etcheverry made a better fist of things in the third, keeping pace for the first 10 games and then going up 15-30 on Djokovic's serve. But, again, the defending champion denied him, reeling off the next three points as the set ultimately went to a tie-break.

Djokovic then claimed a 25-shot rally with a devastating forehand winner to open the breaker as he raced ahead 3-0, ultimately setting up four match points up 6-2 and clinching things with an ace.

"It was the best performance I've had during this tournament," Djokovic said following his win. "It was a great match, I was pleased with the way I played, especially the first two sets.

"He stepped it up and raised his levels of tennis one or two levels. We went toe to toe in the tie-break and I found the right shots."

In the next round, Djokovic will meet French 20th seed Adrian Mannarino after he overcame 21-year-old American talent Ben Shelton 7-6 1-6 6-7 6-3 6-4 in a five-set thriller.

The 35-year-old veteran has never before made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament and has lost all four of his previous encounters with Djokovic.

Sinner and Tsitsipas breeze through into fourth round

Fourth seed Jannik Sinner underlined his title credentials, racing into the second week without dropping a set after a 6-0 6-1 6-3 demolition of Sebastian Baez.

The clean-hitting Italian banged down six aces and 34 winners to see off the Argentine 26th seed in less than two hours, sealing victory with a seventh break of serve.

Sinner's best run at the Australian Open was a place in the quarter-finals in 2022, and the odds will favour him getting back to the last eight with Karen Khachanov his opponent in the fourth round, after he overcame Tomas Machac 6-4 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) in four sets.

Seventh seed and 2023 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas needed just over two hours to beat Luca Van Assche in straight sets and cruise into the last 16.

The Greek's 6-3 6-0 6-4 victory secured a fourth-round showdown with 12th seed Taylor Fritz.

Tsitsipas had a 12-1 edge in aces and saved eight of nine break points while converting on six of eight of his own.

Fritz defeated Fabian Morozsan 3-6 6-4 6-2 6-2 to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam for a fourth time and equal his run in the 2022 Australian Open.

Meanwhile, Australian Alex De Minaur had no trouble getting past Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli, dropping only seven games in a 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory.

The 10th seed's victory fuels hopes of a first home winner of the men's singles in Australia since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

De Minaur will play fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the fourth round after the Russian comfortably beat Sebastian Korda 6-2 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.

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