Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams reached the fourth round of the Australian Open without having lost a set between them yesterday as the grand slam establishment held firm on day five of the championships.
Tougher challenges will undoubtedly come but the untroubled progress of the two reigning champions and dominant players of 2015 has started to resemble a procession in the first week of the year’s first grand slam.
Djokovic, champion for five of the last eight years at Melbourne Park, played a rare match away from Rod Laver Arena but still proved too strong for Italian Andreas Seppi, securing his 210th grand slam victory 6-1 7-5 7-6(6).
The Serbian had to work for his victory through some long rallies but always looked like he had an extra gear when he needed it.
“I served my way out of trouble several times,” he said.
“But certainly I must be pleased with a straight-set win because both sets could have gone a different way.”
Williams did a twirl on Rod Laver Arena after crushing Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-1 to extend her record of wins to 71 matches, the post-match chatter quickly turning to her cropped-top outfit.
“It’s not warm but it’s built for speed,” the six-times champion quipped.
Rain washed away much of the day’s action on the outside courts at Melbourne Park, only intensifying the focus on the elite playing under cover on the three main arenas.
Roger Federer is still very much part of that elite despite having gone three years without adding to his 17 grand slam titles and he notched up a record 300th grand slam victory for a man by beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4.
Bulgarian Dimitrov was dubbed ‘Baby Fed’ for his similarity in style to the Swiss master but after briefly troubling the four-times Australian Open champion to win the second set, he looked more pale imitation than doppelganger.
Maria Sharapova also lost a set to Lauren Davis but that only infuriated the 2008 champion and she raced through the decider 6-1 6-7 6-0 to claim her 600th WTA victory.
The 28-year-old will next face Belinda Bencic, a teenager who is expected to be challenging for majors before too long.
The Swiss was the first player into the round of 16 after overhauling Kateryna Bondarenko 4-6 6-2 6-4 and said she would not be intimidated by playing a five-times grand slam champion.
“I’m very happy to play all these big players,” she said.
“That’s what I play for.”
Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, a semi-finalist in 2014, played through the pain of a leg injury to beat Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 6-4 6-0.