Djokovic breathing fire

melbourne: Novak Djokovic sought assistance from a trainer for some trouble breathing Friday night, and went back-and-forth with one particularly loud spectator, but when the ball was in play at the Australian Open against Tomas Machac, all went quite smoothly for the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

Djokovic, a 10-time title winner at Melbourne Park, moved into the fourth round with his most confident performance of the week, a 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory over the 26th-seeded Machac — who actually won their most recent previous encounter, last season.

Asked in a post-match interview how he thought things went, Djokovic replied: “Very hot-headed right now, so I’m going to try to give a calm and diplomatic answer to that. I think I played really well. I’m very happy with my game. I was surprised, to be honest, with the result.”

It was his first straight-set victory this year in Melbourne, after getting pushed to four in the first round by 19-year-old Ninesh Basavareddy and in the second by 21-year-old Jaime Faria. Both of those opponents were making their Grand Slam debut. Men’s other winners in third-round action included No. 2 Alexander Zverev, No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 12 Tommy Paul. Alcaraz ceded a set for the first time this week but beat Nuno Borges 6-2 6-4 6-7(3) 6-2, Zverev defeated Jacob Fearnley 6-3 6-4 6-4 and Paul got past Robert Carballes Baena 7-6(0) 6-2 6-0.

Perfect Coco

Coco Gauff still hasn’t lost a match or even a set at the Australian Open — or, actually, this season. She moved into the fourth round with a straightforward 6-4 6-2 victory over 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez on Friday night.

While there have been plenty of surprises in the men’s bracket so far, most of the top women, other than No. 5 Zheng Qinwen, have progressed through the draw without an issue. That includes wins on Friday for No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who is the two-time defending champion in Australia, No. 3 Gauff, No. 11 Paula Badosa and No. 14 Mirra Andreeva. Naomi Osaka stopped playing because of a strained abdominal muscle after dropping the first set of her match against Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Belinda Bencic.

A year ago Gauff had her best run in Melbourne, getting to the semifinals before bowing out against Sabalenka, who extended her winning streak at the tournament to 17 matches by eliminating Clara Tauson 7-6(5) 6-4 on Friday.