Novak Djokovic will want to continue his march towards a sixth Australian Open title with victory over Quentin Halys in the second round in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Djokovic was all business in the first round, seeing off the challenge of the talented Hyeon Chung in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
"Having to play somebody for the first time, especially somebody that is as young as him, he's only 19, you know, it can be tricky," Djokovic said after beating the South Korean. "Obviously getting out on the court and playing against a player that has nothing to lose.
"His baseline game is very good, very solid, especially from the backhand side. Very flat, strong backhand, solid shots, both angles. Once he gets into the good rhythm, he can serve well. He's a pretty tall guy. For somebody of his height, he moves very well, as well. He can play equally well from defence to offense.
"He's one of the players that people are talking about as a potential top player in the future. He's got that potential, no question about it. As I said on the court, he needs experience, he needs more time."
While Djokovic was dominant for the majority of the match, that dominance was achieved with the world number one and defending champion barely having to get out of first gear, which is a pretty ominous sign for all his upcoming opponents, including Halys, who is ranked 187th in the world.
The Frenchman booked his place in the second round of the 2016 Australian Open with a 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5 victory over the experienced Ivan Dodig. Halys, though, will know he needs to catch Djokovic on a really bad day to stand a chance of even making this a contest.
Djokovic played his first match in the morning session, where the conditions were pretty hot. However, with this second round match set to be played in cooler conditions, Halys will not even have that avenue to exploit, not that the weather would have bothered the Serbian too much anyway.
"You try to stay composed, not get carried away by heat, get distracted," Djokovic said when asked about the conditions after his first round match. "Of course, there were some long rallies, long exchanges that got both of us a little bit short on air. But I think physically I was really good on the court. I managed to play the best tennis when I needed to."
Where to Watch Live
Australian Open 2016 second round -- Novak Djokovic vs Quentin Halys -- is scheduled as the second match of the evening session on the Rod Laver Arena. The first match – Agnieszka Radwanska vs Eugenie Bouchard – is set to begin at 7 pm local time (1.30 pm IST, 8 am GMT, 3 am ET).
Live coverage of the Australian Open second round match will be on Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD in India, with the online live streaming option on Sonyliv. Channel 7 will broadcast the Australian Open live in Australia.
BBC will broadcast the Australian Open live in the UK and Ireland, while all the action can also be live streamed on BBCiPlayer. Eurosport and Eurosport Player will show the first Grand Slam of the year live in the rest of Europe.
ESPN is the place to be to watch Djokovic play his second rounf match against Halys in the US and Canada, while the live stream option is on Watch ESPN.
Fox Sports will show the second round matches live in South East Asia as well as South Korea. Bein Sports and Bein Sports Connect will broadcast Djokovic vs Halys live in the Middle East and North Africa.
