Djokovic Dismisses Mahut, Faces Hewitt Next

© Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic broke Nicolas Mahut eight times.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic stormed into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-1  dismissal of birthday boy Nicolas Mahut on Saturday afternoon in Melbourne. The World No. 1 needed just 74 minutes to defeat Mahut, breaking the Frenchman eight times.

"He could not get into a rally [over] two, three strokes," said Djokovic, acknowledging Mahut's struggles with a knee injury. "I think most of the people expected him to just retire [from] the match and walk [off] the court, but he managed to stay, so all the credit for him and happy birthday."

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Djokovic has spent just under four-and-a-half hours on court through his first three matches, conceding a total of 10 games. He has now won 24 straight sets at the Australian Open, last dropping a set in his 2011 second-round match against Ivan Dodig.

"Looking just [at] my game, [it went] really well, really fantastic from serve, the return, all the shots, going to the net," analysed Djokovic. "I'm happy with the way my first week went here in Australia, and hopefully I can continue the same way in the second one."

The 24-year-old Serbian, who is chasing his third straight Grand Slam title, will look to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for a fifth straight year when he next confronts Lleyton Hewitt.

With his birthday Saturday, Mahut joined seven other men aged 30 and over to reach the third round of this year’s Australian Open, the most since the introduction of the 128-player draw 30 years ago. The Frenchman was bidding to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Former World No. 1 Hewitt came from a set down to defeat Canadian No. 23 seed Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 in three hours and six minutes in the Rod Laver Arena night session.

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The 30-year-old Hewitt is through to the fourth round in Melbourne for the seventh time; he achieved his best result in 2005 when he went on to reach the final, finishing runner-up to Marat Safin. The Australian has dropped to World No. 181 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings after playing a limited schedule due to injury in 2011. He has lost his past four meetings with Djokovic. 

"Obviously a couple of months ago, I didn't know if I'd be able to play," admitted Hewitt. "I didn't play much tennis last year. I always wanted to play this tournament. I've done a lot of hard work. It's only my close friends and team that know what we've done to get here. That's probably why it's very satisfying."

Looking ahead to the clash with Djokovic, Hewitt said, "I'll prepare as well as possible again. I'll do all the right things. He's the No. 1 player in the world for a reason at the moment. I'm going to enjoy going out there and having a crack."