Novak Djokovic battles hamstring injury suffered during win over Grigor Dimitrov

Stand by for potentially another whole week of speculation about just how bad Novak Djokovic’s hamstring injury actually is.

The nine-times champion is through to the fourth round, but not without a few dramas against No 27 seed Grigor Dimitrov. Djokovic grimaced with pain and fell to the floor a few times, but the only thing that really counted is that he won 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 against a talented but sometimes flaky opponent. 

The Bulgarian was not giving much away in his assessment of the great Serbian, who is seeking to make a triumphant return to Melbourne after last year’s deportation.

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Novak Djokovic beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round 

Djokovic is trying to cast aside injury fears but he was struggling in the first set in Melbourne

‘He seemed to manage very well, that’s about all there is to say about that,’ smiled Dimitrov later. Djokovic was more forthcoming about the ongoing injury which required treatment through an official medical timeout after he had narrowly clinched the first set.

‘It kind of always starts well in the last few matches, including this one, and then some movement happens and then it gets worse,’ he said.

‘Pills kick in, some hot cream and stuff. That works for a little bit, then it doesn’t, then works again. It’s really a roller-coaster, honestly. It requires a lot of energy that is being spent from my side mentally and physically to deal with the match and with my opponent and also with a not ideal physical state.’

The going will get tougher now for Djokovic. His next opponent is Australia’s Alex de Minaur.

If he was to get through that then there could be a reunion with the outstanding Danish 19-year-old Holger Rune, the last man to beat him.

Djokovic’s next opponent is Australia’s Alex de Minaur, who beat Benjamin Bonzi