Djokovic moves Aussie win streak to 24
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Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Three-time reigning and four-time overall champion Novak Djokovic was a predictable third-round winner Friday at the dangerously hot Australian Open.
A brutal heat wave continued to produce stifling weather, as the temperature climbed as high as 111 degrees on Day 5 at Melbourne Park.
The second-seeded former world No. 1 Djokovic pushed his Aussie Open winning streak to 24 matches with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 handling of Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in just under two hours at Rod Laver Arena.
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Djokovic topped British star Andy Murray in last year's finale in Oz and hasn't lost here since 2010, when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got him in the quarterfinals.
Up next for the six-time major champion will be gritty Italian Fabio Fognini.
Meanwhile, last year's French Open runner-up David Ferrer and former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych were also among Friday's winners.
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Ferrer advanced by beating 29th-seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 at Laver.
Chardy struggled with an inconsistent service game. He fired eight aces, but committed the same number of double faults and committed 51 unforced errors en route to defeat.
The third-seeded Ferrer has reached at least the round of 16 at 15 straight Grand Slam tournaments, a run that began at Wimbledon in 2010. The steady Spaniard matched his best Australian Open performance last year by reaching the semifinals before losing to the great Djokovic.
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Awaiting Ferrer in the fourth round is German Florian Mayer, who dismissed injured 20th-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.
Janowicz later revealed he's been managing an injury, as doctors in Poland advised him not to compete at this tournament due to a broken bone in his foot, which was diagnosed during the this past offseason.
"Before I [left] Poland, [it] was still a little bit broken; was not 100 percent healthy," he said after Friday's loss. "There was still quite a bit inflammation. So all the time I'm taking inflammation pills, and we will see how it's going to be. Anyway it's better than it was before definitely."
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The seventh-seeded Berdych, meanwhile, served up 13 aces in a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over qualifier Damir Dzumhur, who was the first man from Bosnia and Herzegovina to play in a Grand Slam event.
The 6-foot-5 Berdych reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne last year, losing to Djokovic.
The Czech's next opponent will be 19th-seeded taller South African Kevin Anderson. The 6-foot-8 Anderson overcame a sluggish start and saved a match point before beating Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.
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A top-10 upset came when 17th-seeded former top-10 star Tommy Robredo of Spain took out ninth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) in 3 hours, 19 minutes. The resurgent Robredo popped 16 aces en route to the upset.
Robredo's fourth-round opponent will be eighth-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who advanced via walkover when 28th-seeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil pulled out of the draw on Thursday.
Also on Friday, a 15th-seeded Fognini dismissed American Sam Querrey 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
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The third round will conclude on Saturday, including matches for former champion Rafael Nadal, the three-time Aussie runner-up Murray, four-time titlist Roger Federer, and the 2008 runner-up Tsonga.
The world No. 1 Nadal, who is the reigning U.S. and French Open champion, titled in Melbourne in 2009 and was the Aussie runner-up in 2012, will battle 25th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils in a rematch of a final two weeks ago in Doha, which was captured by the high-flying Spaniard.
The fourth-seeded reigning Wimbledon champ Murray will take on 26th-seeded Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez, while the sixth-seeded former No. 1 and 17-time Grand Slam king Federer will face Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili, and a 10th-seeded Tsonga will be opposed by 18th-seeded fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon.
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In some other third-round play on Day 6, 11th-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic will tangle with rising 22nd-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and 16th- seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori will lock horns with American Donald Young.