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Melbourne - Novak Djokovic battled with a lower back injury as he claimed his 11th round of 16 appearance at the Australian Open on Saturday.
The six-time champion advanced with a clear-cut 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win over Spanish 21st seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in 2hr 21min on Margaret Court Arena.
But there was concern in the Serb's camp when the former world No.1 sought a medical timeout early in the second set for treatment to his lower back.
Djokovic, looking for matches after six months out with right elbow trouble, will next face South Korea's Chung Hyeon in Sunday's fourth round after he shocked Alexander Zverev.
The injury was a fresh concern for the 12-time Grand Slam champion, whose ranking has slipped to 14 after an inactive second half of 2017.
But Djokovic was workmanlike as broke the Spaniard's serve five times, although his errors outnumbered his winners 40-37.
"It was a straight sets win, but it was almost two-and-a-half hours, so it wasn't that easy and comfortable on the court," Djokovic said.
"I knew coming into the match that he was a great fighter, he grinds it out and gets a lot of balls back.
"Obviously for me it's taking it one match at a time but I have to be more humble with my expectations as I haven't played in the last six months.
"But I am very pleased where my game is at."
Should Djokovic beat Chung he is facing a potential quarter-final against Austria's fifth seed Dominic Thiem, who must first get past American surprise packet Tennys Sandgren on Monday.
Collated results from the Australian Open on Saturday:
Men's singles
3rd round
Dominic Thiem (AUT x5) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA x26) 6-4, 6-2, 7-5
Tennys Sandgren (USA) bt Maximilian Marterer (GER) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5)
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Nicolas Kicker (ARG) 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
Fabio Fognini (ITA x25) bt Julien Benneteau (FRA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
Chung Hyeon (KOR) bt Alexander Zverev (GER x4) 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
Tomas Berdych (CZE x19) bt Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG x12) 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
Novak Djokovic (SRB x14) bt Albert Ramos (ESP x21) 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA x29) 6-2, 7-5, 6-4
Women's singles
3rd round
Karolina Pliskova (CZE x6) bt Lucie Safarova (CZE x29) 7-6 (8/6), 7-5
Madison Keys (USA x17) bt Ana Bogdan (ROM) 6-3, 6-4
Simona Halep (ROM x1) bt Lauren Davis (USA) 4-6, 6-4, 15-13
Caroline Garcia (FRA x8) bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
Naomi Osaka (JPN) bt Ashleigh Barty (AUS x18) 6-4, 6-2
Barbora Strycova (CZE x20) bt Bernarda Pera (USA) 6-2, 6-2
Angelique Kerber (GER x21) bt Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-1, 6-3
Hsieh Su-wei TPE) bt Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x26) 6-2, 7-5
