Djokovic sends funny message to next opponent after gruelling win

After a brutal fourth-round victory that stretched into the early hours of Tuesday morning, Novak Djokovic had a message for his next opponent.

The World No.1 survived the clash with rising star Daniil Medvedev to edge closer to a seventh Australian Open title.

In a grinding encounter on Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic outlasted his 22-year-old opponent to claim a hard-fought 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3 victory in three hours and 15 minutes.

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The Serb will now face Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals, after the Japanese star survived a five-hour marathon of his own.

When asked how he was feeling following the draining match, Djokovic looked straight down the camera.

“Since my next opponent is watching I feel fantastic, I’ve never felt fresher in my life,” he said, flexing his muscles.

The cheeky quip was clearly an ironic attempt to deflect the fact that he was absolutely spent.

Djokovic took a tumble during the third set while attempting to retrieve a ball and was clearly running on empty after a match full of baseline rallies, the longest of which lasted 42 shots.

“Definitely a physical battle. Daniil has been playing some really good tennis in the last six months … he defends well, he can come into the net,” he said.

“It was difficult to go through him so I had to find a different way. These kinds of matches, you just have to hang in there and wait for the opportunities.”

Djokovic will take comfort from the fact Nishikori endured an even more gruelling encounter, downing Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7 (8-10) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 7-6 (10-8) in a five-hour epic that stretched his time on court to almost 14 hours.

Russian 15th seed Medvedev fired off 18 aces and showed no shortage of spirit, particularly during a 70-minute second set that he took in a tiebreaker.

But the young gun battled cramps in his legs and showed signs of unravelling late in the match, repeatedly smashing his racquet after dropping a critical game to Djokovic and earning a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The win secures Djokovic his first quarter-final appearance at Melbourne Park since 2016, having lost in the fourth round last year and second round in 2017.

The 31-year-old is a hot favourite to claim his 15th grand slam title on the back of triumphs at Wimbledon and the US Open.