MELBOURNE — Champion Novak Djokovic was keen to forget his unconvincing victory over Gilles Simon that put the Serb through to another Australian Open quarter-final but also gave hope to his title rivals.
Having come into the match without dropping a set, the world number one bashed repeatedly against the brick wall of 14th seeded Frenchman and committed exactly 100 unforced errors in the 6-3 6-7(1) 6-4 4-6 6-3 win at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.
The error count was largely testament to Simon's dogged scrambling and counter-punching style, but Djokovic also shot himself in the foot repeatedly with a string of botched dropshots.