World No. 1 Novak Djokovic put on a masterclass as he raced into the Australian Open third round with a 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(3) victory over spirited French teenager Quentin Halys on Wednesday night in Melbourne.

As good as Djokovic was – and his performance was close to that of the Doha final against Rafael Nadal – the 19-year-old Halys was not overawed and gave a good account of himself on the Rod Laver Arena.

After the first two sets passed him by in 56 minutes, Halys earned himself a break of serve to start the third set. Djokovic immediately hit back, but the Frenchman dug in for a tough third set, extending Djokovic to a tie-break – which featured a standout round-the-net-post winner from Halys on the first point – before the Serb broke away to clinch victory in one hour and 40 minutes. The Belgrade native hit 42 winners and committed just 14 unforced errors.

World No. 187 Halys left the court to a standing ovation. He had won his first tour-level match when he defeated Ivan Dodig in the first round.

The 28-year-old Djokovic, who opened 2016 by capturing his 60^th tour-level title in Doha, has won 31 of his past 32 matches, also taking in titles at the US Open (d. Federer), Beijing (d. Nadal), Shanghai (d. Tsonga), Paris (d. Murray) and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (d. Federer).

The Serb is bidding to equal Roy Emerson’s record of six Australian titles and become the 10th man in history to win six titles at any Grand Slam event. The right-hander first lifted the trophy at Melbourne Park in 2008 (d. Tsonga) and returned victorious in 2011 (d. Murray), 2012 (d. Nadal), 2013 (d. Murray) and 2015 (d. Murray).

Djokovic goes on to face No. 28 seed Andreas Seppi, who defeated Denis Kudla 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Twelve months ago, Seppi recorded one of the greatest wins of his career when he stunned Roger Federer in the third round at Melbourne Park. But if he is to do the same against Djokovic, the Italian will need to overcome a 0-11 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Serb.

At 33 years of age, David Ferrer is improving once again. Ferrer posted his second best season on the ATP World Tour in 2015 with five titles, trailing only his stellar 2012 season when he won seven tournaments, vaulting the Spaniard into the Top 5 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Ferrer finished last season ranked No. 7, with the fourth best win percentage at 76.8 per cent – trailing only Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer in this key performance metric.

Ferrer finished the 2013 season ranked No. 3 and if he’s to climb back up the Emirates ATP Rankings to those lofty heights in 2016, the serving side of the equation will be required to perform at the same high level as his return game.

What Ferrer Does Well

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis clearly shows the engine room of Ferrer’s resurgence is his resilience in returning serve.

The mental toughness and physicality he brings to the court can actually be quantified on the scoreboard. His mind helps him get ahead, and his legs make sure he stays there.

For Ferrer, it all starts with winning the crucial first point of the game. When the Spaniard won the first point of his opponent’s service game last season, he broke 38.9 per cent of the time – better than any other player ranked in the Top 8.

He was also the best at converting a break of serve with his opponent serving at 0/30, at 47.6 per cent of the time, and at 0/40, at 56.4 per cent.

Ferrer also led the Elite Eight breaking from a score of 15/15, at 27.9 per cent of the time.

It’s not easy to pinpoint greatness on the return side of the game, but those analytics speak directly to the the iron will of the 5’9”, 160-pound warrior from Valencia.

What Ferrer Needs To Improve

Ferrer was the best of the Elite Eight at breaking with the opponent serving at 0/15, but he had the lowest percentage of the eight holding from 0/15, at 61.5 per cent. Federer led the pack at 79.1 per cent, with Djokovic close by at 78.3 per cent.

The problems worsen for the Spaniard when you move the spotlight to aces and double faults. Ferrer only hit 155 aces last season, well behind Tomas Berdych’s 583 or Stan Wawrinka’s 576.

Unfortunately, free points are very hard to come by.

The ability to get out of trouble hitting aces on break points is a huge advantage for players to call upon, with Berdych (37 aces), Wawrinka (31 aces) and Murray (30 aces) leading the Elite Eight players in this very specific category.

Ferrer was only able to manage five aces on break points in 2015, being forced to extend a lot deeper into points to try and hold his service games.

The Spaniard also committed 14 double faults on break points, to be the only player in the Elite Eight to have a negative ratio in this crucial area.

Double faults were a real problem area for the Spaniard in 2015, notching up 199, to easily have the most of the Elite Eight players. By comparison, Djokovic was on court a lot more last year (155 hours to Ferrer’s 124 hours) and only hit 135 double faults.

Ferrer also had the second lowest win percentage of the Elite Eight on second serve points won in 2015 at 54 per cent – well behind World No. 1 Djokovic at 60 per cent.

Ferrer had the lowest percentage of the Elite Eight holding serve from 15/15 (84 per cent), 30/0 (95 per cent), and 40/0 (97 per cent).

The percentages were still very high, but just not at the same rarified level of the other players that he is trying to overtake.

Summary

To recapture his 2012 form, Ferrer’s serve performance needs to step up once again.

He won 67 per cent of his service points in 2012, and only 64 per cent last season. Service games won were down from 85 per cent to 80 per cent from 2012 to 2015, and break points saved has a similar drop, from 65 per cent to 60 per cent.

Like most pro’s on the ATP World Tour, slight day-to-day adjustments in serve technique, rhythm, coil, energy, height of contact and explosion with the legs will be constantly evaluated and tweaked.

At the 2015 Australian Open, Ferrer averaged only 177kph (110mph) on first serves, and 152kph (94mph) on second serves in reaching the fourth round.

If he is to go deeper at the first Grand Slam event of 2016, more power or more precision to the corners, with his serve, will be called upon to back up one of the best return games our sport has ever seen.

Read more insights at Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers

Nick Kyrgios surged into the third round of the Australian Open under the lights on Hisense Arena on Wednesday evening as he held off Pablo Cuevas for a 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(2) victory.

The 20-year-old Kyrgios narrowly avoided a fourth set, saving two set points when serving at 4-5, 15/40 in the third set. The Canberra native went on to clinch the ensuing tie-break, sealing victory with a rifled backhand winner in just under two hours.

Kyrgios reached his second Grand Slam quarter-final at Melbourne Park last year, falling to Andy Murray. The right-hander also advanced to the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2014, stunning Rafael Nadal in the fourth round before his run was ended by Milos Raonic.

Next up for Kyrgios will be a first-time meeting with sixth seed Tomas Berdych. Kyrgios has a 4-10 record against Top 10 players.

Former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was too strong for 18-year-old Australian Omar Jasika, reaching the third round with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 victory. The Frenchman was given a stern test by the wild card in the first set, but struck 40 winners as he went on to claim victory in one hour and 43 minutes. World No. 310 Jasika had claimed his first tour-level win in the first round when he beat Illya Marchenko.

The ninth-seeded Tsonga was runner-up in Melbourne in 2008, losing to Novak Djokovic. The 30 year old began his 2016 ATP World Tour campaign last week in Auckland, reaching the semi-finals (l. to Bautista Agut).

In an all-French third-round clash, Tsonga will face qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who defeated American wild card Noah Rubin 6-3, 6-4, 6-0. The 24-year-old Herbert reached the doubles final at Melbourne Park last year with Nicolas Mahut (l. to Bolelli/Fognini) and is through to the third round in singles at a Grand Slam for the first time.

It’s never easy playing against a friend. Especially one whom you grew up training with and sparring against, whom you’ve shared sushi dinners with, who’s helped you hone your second-language skills. But Kei Nishikori did his best to put those distractions aside on Wednesday at the Australian Open, where the No. 7-seeded Japanese moved into the third round for the sixth straight year with a 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 win over Austin Krajicek.

In the opening match in Margaret Court Arena, Nishikori, a two-time quarter-finalist and the only Japanese man to reach the elite eight at Melbourne Park in the Open Era, lost just two points on his serve in claiming the first set in a mere 25 minutes.

An untimely forehand error (one of 28 unforced errors for Krajicek on the day) at 15-40 would give Nishikori a service break to open the second set, and the 26-year-old promptly consolidated for an early 2-0 edge. But the left-handed Krajicek — one of eight Americans through to the second round, the most in Melbourne since 2008 — returned the favour to level the set at 5-all and eventually forced a tie-break. But a pair of aces helped the World No. 7 clinch the set.

Nishikori’s third and final break came in the second game of the third set, and he would go on to wrap the win in one hour and 52 minutes. He posted 40 winners, including 13 aces, and won 52 of 63 (83%) first-serve points.

Krajicek, a former Texas A&M standout, was bidding to reach the third round of a major for the first time in his Australian Open debut.