After two tough examinations Novak DJOKOVIC breezes through third round against Etcheverry at 2024 Australian Open

Novak Djokovic will head into the fourth round of the Australian Open for the 16th time and could yet meet Ben Shelton again in a highly anticipated clash. He saw off Tomas Martin Etcheverry with a degree of comfort 6-3, 6-3, 7-6.

This was a surprise somewhat given that Etcheverry is a bigger name seed and he struggled against Dino Prizmic and Alexei Popyrin, with the latter being in particular a problem for the Serbian kingpin. But then again given his Grand Slam scares in the past, he will likely now grow into the tournament which could be an ominous sign.

He took the win in just over two and a half hours with only the third set being uncomfortable for the 24-time Grand Slam champion. He took a break in both of the first two sets with the first coming pivotally at 3-2 as the Serbian went 4-2 up. Etcheverry did not have a single break point throughout the whole tie and Djokovic could've sealed the set even more comfortably at 5-2 before he breezed through his service game to go 1-0 up.

In the second set, he did accrue two breaks at 2-1 up and to win the set 6-3 as Etcheverry could not penetrate the serve of Djokovic. The final set was just a tail of no breaks with the Argentine this time standing firm but he didn't in the tie-break with Djokovic sweeping him aside 7-2 to head towards the second week after two scares finally looking confident at the Australian Open.

With Carlos Alcaraz not looking at his best and Daniil Medvedev playing late into the night, Jannik Sinner could yet emerge as his top rival again for the title and a conversation that due to this win cannot count out the World No.1.