World number one Novak Djokovic was entirely unconvincing as he reached yet another major quarterfinal. Despite winning for the tenth time in a row against Gilles Simon, the Serbian hit a staggering 100 unforced errors as he laboured to a five set win that was a far cry from his dominant early performances.
Simon is not a player with the weapons to hit his opponents off the court, but his defensive skills can make him a nightmare for even the very best on an off-day. And so it proved in a four-and-a-half-hour marathon on day seven of this year's Australian Open.
Djokovic falters in set two
Having looked set for another easy win as he broke twice to win the first set 6-3, things began to go wrong for Djokovic in set two. The Serbian's feared returning skills helped him create 11 break point chances but, unusually for Djokovic, he was unable to take any of them. His French opponent then stamped his authority on the tiebreak, winning it by 7 points to 1.
As the third set begun it looked as though Djokovic was back on track, breaking early to take the lead. Simon was not about to go down lightly though, and broke back, before wilting in the face of Djokovic's returning to give up another break, and with it, the set.
The fourth set was one to forget for Djokovic and his fans. The world number one was poor, hitting 29 unforced errors, and allowing Simon seven chances to break serve. At his seventh opportunity, Simon did so, and Djokovic was powerless to stop the set going against him.
World number one raises his level for final set
Djokovic was into his first fifth set since playing Kevin Anderson at Wimbledon last year, and the heat was on after a low-quality fourth set. The world number one hasn't become the dominant force he is without winning a few tight matches on the way though, and he raised his game, improving his first serve percentage from 56% to 75% and hitting fewer than half as many unforced errors as in the fourth.
He raced out to a 5-1 lead, and although he was broken back once by the still-fighting Simon, the cushion of the double-break finally saw him over the finish line.
Djokovic was in downbeat mood afterwards. "I haven't done well at all," he said, referring to his victory as "a match to forget", despite being "obviously pleased to win."
Simon, for his part, was obviously disappointed. "It's always a bad feeling when you lose in five," he said, acknowledging that his opponent had "definitely played better in the end."
Nishikori to pose sterner test
Djokovic will need to improve fast if he is to progress to the semifinals, with a potentially stern test against Kei Nishikori looming in the quarterfinals. Nishikori was impressive in dismissing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in round four, and has experience of taking Djokovic down at the highest level, with the memory of a win over the world number one in the 2014 US Open semifinals to fall back upon.
Against Simon, Djokovic was able to struggle through with a bad performance. The players that lie in wait from here on in will not afford him that luxury.