Novak Djokovic, the number two seed and 3 time defending champion was the second player from Serbia playing on Rod Laver Arena on the first Friday Night, and his assignment should he accept it, was to finalise the tournament for Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan, currently ranked 49 in the world.
Istomin had first say and he said I will win my serve, which he accordingly did, with a two point objection from Djokovic. Novak entered the match pretty relaxed and eased two winners off his forehand and forced one or two mistakes off his opponents back hand, to make it 1-1.
The break came in the third game and we were all nodding our heads as if we knew this to be coming. Djokovic, smooth as silk moving around the court, in the process making Istomin move twice as far and awkwardly, presented a choice to his opponent over which errant shot to play, because they were the only final options available after the world number two had cut off all other avenues.
Leading 2-1, Novak was content to pocket his own serves safe in the knowledge that if he required additional games he could savage another Istomin serve if need be. The tennis we saw for the rest of the set was good, with both players willing to go the extra yard to give a rally another shot or two.
Serving to stay in contention for the set at 4-5, Denis was given no help and he was overwhelmed by the occasion. The first set Djokovic 6-3.
Djokovic struggled through the first few games of set two but picked himself up in game four to shatter the serve of Istomin and lead 3-1. Apart from that poor section, Istomin served well in the set, and was largely unthreatened by the Djokovic return, which is a remarkable thing to say about anyone subject to a contest with the 6 time Grand Slam title holder.
Although Novak was less than himself at times he still managed to hold it together on serve and maintained the break through to the end of the set, playing some terrific shots that tennis textbooks have yet to discuss. Second set to Djokovic 6-3.
The third set was only three games old when Djokovic decided that treading water was not fun so he rethought the situation, and broke serve. Despite the loss of serve, Istomin had begun to play some better tennis in set two and was still improving, thanks to merely being on court with the reigning champ, so the spectacle was improving too - whilst always good to see Novak enjoying himself it helps the cause if the other one can hit a few nice ones too.
The passing shots in the fifth game when Istomin was given permission to serve again were exquisite and even Djokovic had no way of reaching them.
Both men were serving well and playing some great ground strokes as the game score approached crunch time for Istomin.
At 5-4 Djokovic was serving for a spot in the last 16, and against all forecasts he served up a double fault - his first of the match - to give Istomin his first break point of the match. He converted and Novak had to go back to the drawing board.
As champs don't do Djokovic did not panic. He played the perfect game to follow up the loss of serve, breaking back immediately then serving out with the consummate ease which he thought he might have had the time before.
Djokovic through in straight sets in a highly watchable match 6-3 6-3 7-5
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