Melbourne: Six-time champion Novak Djokovic survived the Rod Laver Arena furnace to reach the third round of the Australian Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Gael Monfils on Thursday.
With temperatures peaking at 39.9C and reports of 69C being measured on the court surface, Djokovic recovered from a woeful start to take his record over the unseeded Frenchman to 15-0.
Djokovic, playing his first tournament for six months because of an elbow problem, dropped his opening two service games and although he battled back to break Monfils twice, he wavered again as scrappy opener went his opponents’ way.
After a 24-stroke rally in the sixth game of the second set, it was clear Monfils was struggling to cope with the heat and he repeatedly asked the umpire for more than the allowed 25 seconds recovery time between points.
Both players hung iced towels around their necks at changeovers and Monfils, who leant on his racket at times, seemingly to remain standing, needed the doctor, telling the umpire that he was dizzy and feeling sick.
“I was dying on the court for 40 minutes,” Monfils said after having cooled down in an ice bath.
Djokovic rattled through the third set and it looked as though Monfils would quit, but to his credit he recovered his senses to offer some stern resistance in the fourth.
Fourteenth seed Djokovic broke in the eighth game but failed to convert his first match point and then faced a break point after losing a rally that left him gasping for air.
Monfils saved two more match points, the second with a superb crosscourt forehand, but Djokovic converted at the fourth attempt with a simple volley.
“It was brutal,” Djokovic, who again played with a compression sleeve and employed a truncated service action, said on court. “I thought it is going to be a big challenge for both of us. Gael is one of the best athletes in our sport.
“It was about just hanging in there and try to use every opportunity.”
The 30-year-old Serb will play Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the third round.
Belgian seventh seed David Goffin crashed out, losing to Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the second round.
Goffin won the opening set but was edged out in a tight tiebreaker for the second set which proved pivotal in the gruelling heat.
Benneteau prevailed 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 7-6 in two hours 54 minutes to claim his second win over Goffin in three encounters.
Goffin took the fourth set into a tiebreaker but left-hander Benneteau brought up two match points and claimed victory when the Belgian hit long.
Benneteau, who reached the third round in Melbourne for the fourth time, will next play Italy’s 25th seed Fabio Fognini.
It was the first time Goffin had faced a Frenchman since Belgium lost to France 3-2 in the Davis Cup final in Lille in November.
Dominic Thiem has survived his first career five-set match, rallying from two sets down to defeat 190th-ranked American qualifier Denis Kudla 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the second round.
The fifth-seeded Austrian player improved his five-set record at Grand Slams to 3-3 with the win. He lost both five-setters he played last year at the majors to Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon and to Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open.
Thiem counted 21 aces among his 57 winners in the match. He was broken three times in the opening set and once in the second set, then didn’t face another break point for the rest of the match.
Two-time semi-finalist Tomas Berdych recorded 42 winners, including 12 aces, to overcome Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the second round.
