World No. 1 Novak Djokovic said he could feel the tension before overcoming his great rival Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 at the Australian Open yesterday in a repeat of their 2008 Melbourne final. The top seed vanquished the Frenchman, who he described as, "one of my greatest rivals", for the 17th time in 23 tour meetings stretching back 11 years and advances to face Canada's 25th seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round.

Repeat of 2008 Melbourne final
Djokovic, 31, won the first of his 14 Grand Slams in that final against Tsonga over a decade ago and he said the memories came flooding back as the pair walked back out on Rod Laver Arena. "You could feel the tension on court at the beginning. We felt a lot of emotion," said Djokovic as both players took a trip down memory lane.