Enzo Couacaud can leave Melbourne with his head held high.
191st in the world rankings, the native of Mauritius was eliminated by Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday, after having fought a good battle.
Dominated in the first set, he pocketed the second in the tie-break before breaking down physically and mentally against the onslaught of the Serb.
The nine-time winner of the tournament comes out in four sets and three hours of play, 6-1, 6-7 [5-7], 6-2, 6-0.
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Australian Open: ladies schedule and results
Australian Open: men's schedule and results
The game was twice interrupted by medical timeouts.
It was first the French who called in the healers for a twist of the ankle, before the Serb left the court to be strapped at the level of the left thigh.
Couacaud has reason to be proud of his career.
Coming from the qualifications, he had triumphed over Hugo Dellien in the first round of the final draw and had barely 24 hours to prepare for his match against Djokovic.
In the third round, the latter will meet the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, seeded N.27.