Australian Open: Federer and Djokovic into third round

MELBOURNE (Agencies): Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both enjoyed comfortable wins to reach the third round of the Australian Open.

Federer beat world number 41 Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 6-1 6-4 6-1 to maintain his bid to match Djokovic’s seven Australian Open titles. The Swiss, 38, wrapped up victory in 92 minutes and will face Australia’s John Millman next.

Djokovic, the defending champion, dismissed Japanese wildcard Tatsuma Ito 6-1 6-4 6-2 in 95 minutes.

The 32-year-old Serb, chasing a 17th Grand Slam title, faces Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka next after he knocked out British number one Dan Evans. Djokovic has been working on his serve with former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic and fired down 16 aces against Ito.

“My serve was working extremely well in the first and second round. That’s something I worked on in the off-season,” he said. “One of the priorities of the training sessions is trying to get that advantage of winning a lot of easy points on the first serve. “It has been paying off so far.” Federer is competing at Melbourne Park for a 21st consecutive year and has reached at least the last 32 on every occasion.

He came into the tournament without playing any warm-up events but has only dropped 13 games in his two matches. However, Millman, who saw off Polish 31st seed Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets, beat Federer at the 2018 US Open. “I think the match is really going to be a test for me because John is fit like a fiddle,” said the Swiss. “He’s from this country, so naturally also it’s going to be different intensity.”