Fiery Djoko blasts into third round

Novak Djokovic defied rowdy fans and hamstring trouble to haul himself into the Australian Open third round with a drama-filled win over qualifier Enzo Couacaud on Thursday.

The Serbian suffered a mid-match wobble before blazing past his 191st-ranked opponent 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena.

It was his 23rd straight win on the Melbourne Park centre court as he steps up his quest for a record-extending 10th Australian Open crown.

In a colourful match, he also had a major moment with the umpire, demanding that a drunken fan be thrown out.

“He’s been drunk out of his mind from the first point, provoking me,” he fumed in the fourth set. “What are you going to do about it? Why don’t you get him out of the stadium?”

Four fans, beer in hand, were later shown being escorted out.

The dogged win set up a clash against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, who swept past another Serb, Laslo Djere, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0.

With three top 10 seeds -- Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud and Taylor Fritz -- already out of the tournament, and world number one Carlos Alcaraz injured, Djokovic’s route to another title, and a 22nd Grand Slam crown, has become easier.

That’s if his hamstring holds up.

“There was a lot happening tonight and Enzo deserves credit, he played some really great tennis, especially in the second set,” said the 35-year-old.

“We both had medical timeouts and struggled a little bit, but I managed to respond in the third set and especially the fourth.”