MELBOURNE, Australia — Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic avoided the same mistake he made three years go when he met a wild-card entry in the second round of the Australian Open.
Djokovic required all of 95 minutes Wednesday to beat Japanese wild-card entry Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in a swirling breeze at Rod Laver Arena to advance to a third-round match against another Japanese player, Yoshihito Nishioka, who is coming off a win over 30th-seeded Dan Evans.
Djokovic had 16 aces and 31 total winners and didn’t face a break point against Ito.
In 2017, Djokovic was upset in the second round by Denis Istomin, who, like Ito, had earned his spot in the main draw by winning the Asia-Pacific wild-card playoff. That was Djokovic’s worst performance in Australia since a first-round exit in 2006.
His experience at Melbourne Park counted as the wind picked up in the afternoon.
“Credit to [Ito] for fighting to the end. Tough conditions out here,” Djokovic said. “The wind can get you out of your comfort zone very quickly.”
Also Wednesday, American Tennys Sandgren upset eighth-seeded Matteo Berrettini of Italy in five sets to reach the third round.
Sandgren, who is ranked 100th, wasted a two sets to none lead against 2019 U.S. Open semifinalist Berrettini but managed to win 7-6 (7), 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 7-5.
Sandgren improved to 4-0 in five-setters. It was also the fourth top-10 win of his career; two of the others also came at Melbourne Park, back in 2018, when Sandgren reached the quarterfinals.
Up next for Sandgren is an all-American matchup against Sam Querrey, who needed four sets to get past Ricardas Berankis 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
In other second-round men’s action, Marin Cilic, who is unseeded in this year’s tournament, upset No. 21 seed Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-7 (6), 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3). The win marked Cilic’s 31st five-set win, breaking a tie with Djokovic and Roger Federer for the most by any active player on tour, according to ESPN Stats & Information research..
No. 6 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber in a walkover, and 14th-seeded Diego Schwartzman scored a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.