Australian Open day four: Djokovic battles past Popyrin, Andreeva stuns Jabeur

Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic came through another taxing four-set battle with home favourite Alexei Popyrin to reach the third round of the Grand Slam tournament on Wednesday.

The Serbian particularly struggled on the forehand side throughout the early stages of the contest and also came to verbal blows with a member of the crowd, but in a tale as old as time, he held his nerve to triumph 6-3 4-6 7-6[4] 6-3.

After losing a set to Croatian teenager Dino Prizmic in his first-round battle, Djokovic - plagued by an illness and his ongoing wrist concern - earned the first break of the match in the eighth game but quickly fell 4-1 down in the second as Popyrin upped the ante.

Despite earning one break back while Popyrin was serving . . .