Djokovic battles past another Grand Slam debutant Jaime Faria.

By Lehlohonolo Lehana.

Ten-times champion Novak Djokovic beat Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria 6-1 6-7(4) 6-3 6-2 under the roof at Rod Laver Arena.

The win gives Djokovic sole ownership of the all-time record for most Grand Slam singles matches played among men and women, and takes him past former rival Roger Federer, who played his last major match at Wimbledon in 2022.

The match wasn’t without some drama, as the 10-time champion became frustrated with a sudden disruption mid-match and refused to continue until the umpire fixed the problem.

The gap in experience looked like a chasm in a one-sided opening set but Faria stormed back into the contest by winning the second set in a tiebreaker on the back of some fine ball-striking and all-court athleticism.

“I love this court, I love competition,” the 37-year-old Serbian said after reaching the third round of the Australian Open for the 17th time with his 14th ace of the match.

“I think I responded well in the third set and particularly the fourth. He was playing lights-out tennis at the end of the second set and start of the third and I had to weather the storm.”

“I told him at the net, ‘the future is bright for you so carry on’.”

The victory also meant the Serb became the first man over the age of 30 to reach 150 Grand Slam singles wins.

Djokovic can make further history still in Melbourne – win the title and he would claim a 25th major, moving him clear of Australia’s Margaret Court as the sole leader of all-time Grand Slam singles titles.

The seventh seed, who has three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray in his coaching box, will face Czech 26th seed Tomas Machac in the third round.

Meanwhile four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz said he was “really, really happy” with his form after an ominous display of strength at the Australian Open on Wednesday to sprint into the third round.

The Spanish third seed showed no mercy to Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, who was taught a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 lesson on Margaret Court Arena in an 81-minute rout.

“I think I played really solid today,” said Alcaraz, who won Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year but is yet to go beyond the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park.

“I improved the things that I had to improve from the first match. Just really, really happy with everything today.

“An important win for me. Three straight sets with a really high level. Hopefully continue like this.”

Alcaraz is bidding to become the youngest men’s winner in Australia since Djokovic won the first of his 10 titles in 2008.

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