Djokovic advances to 9th straight 4th round at Aussie Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Novak Djokovic advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the ninth consecutive year with a 7-6 (8), 6-3, 6-4 win over Fernando Verdasco on Saturday.

Four-time champion Djokovic won the tiebreaker on his fourth set point when Verdasco hit consecutive shots wide.

The No. 1-ranked Djokovic broke the Spanish left-hander at the start of the second set, then saved two break points with consecutive aces to take a 3-0 lead.

There was some levity at the end of the second set when a man in the Rod Laver Arena crowd proposed to his girlfriend, offering her a ring. When the woman said yes, many in the capacity crowd of 15,000 applauded, as did Djokovic from his courtside chair.