Djokovic blitz past Fritz

World No 1 Novak Djokovic stormed into Round of 16 after a fighting five-set win over Taylor Fritz.

Djokovic started fluently and stormed ahead to take a twoset lead and it looked like it was just a matter of time before he would wrap it up. But then he was bothered by an injury to his ribs.

The Serbian then seemed to be struggling in long rallies and his opponent took advantage of that and clawed back into the match to win the next two sets.

What added to the drama was the fact that midway through the games, the stands had to be emptied as the Covid19 lockdown in Melbourne kicked in after midnight.

An announcement was made over the tannoy to inform all supporters that they had to leave the arena. A message also flashed up on the big screen.

Once the fans vacated the Rod Laver Arena, the match resumed and Djokovic regained some strength and went on to win the game 7-6 (71) 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2.

Serena Williams, said after beating 19-year-old Anastasia Potapova 7-6 (5), 6-2 despite 25 unforced errors in the first set alone.

Williams now plays seventhseeded Aryna Sabalenka, who matched her best Grand Slam showing by reaching the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ann Li.

No. 8 Diego Schwartzman became the highest-seeded man to lose so far, eliminated 6-3, 63, 6-3 by Aslan Karatsev, a qualifier from Russia ranked 114th and making his Grand Slam debut at age 27.

No. 3 Dominic Thiem, appeared to be in real trouble against Australia's Nick Kyrgios in front of a raucous crowd, but came all the way back from a two-set deficit to win 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.