Djokovic overcomes injury, fans and Fritz in Australian Open R3 victory

Novak Djokovic overcame many things en route to his spectacular victory over Taylor Fritz in 5 sets.

It was a smooth sailing ride for Djokovic until an injury nearly derailed the whole experience. Djokovic was up 2-0 when an injury caused him to drop two sets only to come back in the 5th and win. The whole endeavour lasted three and a half hours but Djokovic won 7-6(1) 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2.

The first set was a very interesting one as Fritz had a break point in the first game but that is not uncommon as Novak tends to start matches slowly. He quickly found his rhythm and jumped out to a 4-1 lead. He would maintain it for a while before serving for the match at 5-4. Unusually he failed to win the set there allowing Fritz to come back into the match. The visibly upset Novak managed to compose himself in time to win the tiebreak with 7-1 where he dominated.

The 2nd set followed a similar pattern with Djokovic jumping out to an early lead but this the American could not fight back. He had several chances with the best one coming at 4-3 when he had several break points. Novak saved them all and continued playing well winning that game and proceeding to win the 2nd set with 6-4. Early in the 3rd set, Novak had to call a medical timeout due to experiencing some discomfort in his abdominal region.

At every changeover, a physio worked on Djokovic applying some balm and messaging the area. Djokovic stayed in the set but his movement suffered a bit and he looked to shorten the points considerably. Ultimately Fritz managed to overpower him winning the set 6-3.

At the start of the 4th set Djokovic still struggled and Fritz took an early break 3-1. After Djokovic, his own service game the play was suspended in order for the fans to leave the Arena as new lockdown required fans to return home before midnight when it was set to begin. It was a welcomed sight for Djokovic and his team as he endured heckling from fans since the match started.

In the final set, Djokovic started off by playing and moving much better than before. Fritz held back a bit waiting for Djokovic to make mistakes but it was Fritz who started making more and more mistakes. Djokovic returned much better nad ultimately got a break which he converted to a 6-2 final set victory. A strong-willed Djokovic overcame a true test today showing himself to be a true champion yet again.