Nole had an easy straight set win over Chardy, 75 61 63. And after the match, he got a little chippy:
Q. Last year everyone was talking about you as sort of the third man after Rafa and Roger. Now it's Andy as the third man. Do you get that sense?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Why Andy?
Q. Because he's the one being talked about as the third challenger.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: What's his ranking and my ranking?
Q. I'm not going on the ranking system.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: The thing is that you cannot put somebody, I mean, all the respect to Andy, I like him as a person and as a player. He's done a lot in the last couple months, and he's a very talented player and we can expect him to win some Grand Slams in the future.
But you cannot put him as the favorites next to Roger and Rafa and myself here at Australian Open.
Shoulder? Meet Chip. Chip? Meet Shoulder.
I'll never understand all this talk by Fed and Roger. I mean, why does it matter who anyone's talking about? Why do you care? Let them talk and you just play and shut them up. Why get drawn into all this drama.
Pfft. Whatever.
