Djokovic shows Mahut no mercy

Novak Djokovic barely broke sweat as he overcame Nicolas Mahut for the loss of just two games at the Australian Open today.

Mahut’s heavily bandaged left leg was clearly a hindrance and world number one Djokovic was in no mood to show any mercy, cantering home 6-0 6-1 6-1 in just an hour and 14 minutes.

Djokovic, the defending champion in Melbourne and also the title holder at Wimbledon and the US Open following a remarkable 2011, has not dropped a set in his three matches so far.

Indeed, he has conceded just 10 games in advancing to a fourth-round meeting with either Milos Raonic or Lleyton Hewitt.

It took Mahut, who famously lost 70-68 in the fifth set to John Isner at Wimbledon in 2010, until the eighth game to get on the scoreboard.

The Frenchman smiled in acknowledging the cheers of the crowd, but it did not spark an improvement in his fortunes as Djokovic continued to move him around, exposing his condition.

Mahut, 30 today, kept plugging away but Djokovic eased over the line to keep his challenge firmly on track.

“Credit to him, we saw some taping around his knee and I felt sorry for him,” Djokovic said. “Evidently he was not playing his best or moving too well but he did not want to retire from the match.”

Earlier, sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued his smooth progress through the draw at the expense of Frederico Gil.

Gil was making history as the first Portuguese man to make the third round of a grand slam, but he never looked like going any further with Tsonga displaying too much power and guile to complete a routine 6-2 6-2 6-2 victory in just 91 minutes.

The Frenchman broke twice in each set to set up a potential last-16 clash with countryman Julien Benneteau, who meets Kei Nishikori later today.

“Today I played well and felt good on court,” Tsonga said. “Match after match I play better here and I hope it will continue and I go far in the tournament.”

Richard Gasquet powered into the last 16 with a straight-sets defeat of ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic.

The Frenchman was at his stylish best to see off the Serbian 6-3 6-3 6-1.

Gasquet cruised through the first two sets, breaking once in the opener and twice in the second as an out-of-sorts Tipsarevic struggled to make an impression.

He finally claimed a break of his own deep in the third set, but Gasquet hit straight back to snuff out the danger and complete an impressive victory.

The 17th seed will play David Ferrer next following the Spaniard’s 7-5 6-2 6-1 victory over veteran Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela.