Novak Djokovic recorded his 12th successive victory over Andreas Seppi on Friday to book his place in the Australian Open fourth round After rarely being troubled in his opening two matches the defending champion was given a real work out by the Italian, however Djokovic was too good as he secured a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) win.
Seppi's prospects looked bleak as the top-seed raced through the first set in 25 minutes, Djokovic only dropping five points on his own serve as errors littered Seppi's play.
The second was much more competitive as Seppi found his feet and it was Djokovic who was error prone, but such is his talent the Serb eventually found a way through as a backhand produced a valuable break chance.
He duly accepted it a point later, but was made to battle again in the third as Seppi's dogged determination kept him in contention, Djokovic coming from 6-4 behind in the tie-break to progress.
The victory extends Djokovic's unbeaten streak at the Grand Slams to 17 matches, a run that stretches all the way back to his French Open final defeat to Stan Wawrinka in 2015.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Djokovic (1) bt Seppi (28) 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)
ACES
Djokovic - 9
Seppi - 5
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Djokovic - 34/37
Seppi - 29/38
BREAK POINTS WON
Djokovic - 3/6
Seppi - 0/3
FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
Djokovic – 72
Seppi - 57
PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
Djokovic - 75/62
Seppi - 80/39
TOTAL POINTS
Djokovic - 110
Seppi – 89
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