Australian Open 2012 live stream

It is a good job Novak Djokovic does not get paid by the hour. If he did, he may have to get himself a part-time job – say, a spot of shelf stacking at Bunnings Warehouse – just to pay the bills.

As the defending champion eased himself into the fourth round with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 win over Nicolas Mahut, he was wasting no time. As much as he loves Melbourne Park, his visits here have been fleeting of late and Saturday’s trip to the Rod Laver Arena lasted a brief 74 minutes. Blink and you would have missed him.

It could have been even briefer had it not been for Mahut’s sportsmanship and determination. Hobbled by a duff knee and an ailing hamstring, the Frenchman could barely move. But if you step on the court, particularly a court as prestigious as the RLA, you have to be prepared to play to the bitter end, and Mahut did just that. But it was still no way to celebrate his 30th birthday.

“Obviously, I feel for my opponent, who evidently could not move on the court,” Djokovic said. “He could not get into the rally over two, three strokes. I think most of the people expected him to just retire the match and walk out of the court. But he managed to stay. So all the credit for him and happy birthday!”

The first set whistled by in just 24 minutes during which time Mahut was only able to collect 11 points. This did not bode well. When he finally managed to get a game on the scoreboard (the second game of the second set, just in case you were wondering), he raised his arms in triumph but he knew he was only delaying the inevitable. He is a lovely bloke is Mahut, and he was taking his thrashing in good spirit.

So comprehensive was Djokovic’s victory that a hack’s mind tended to wander. Well, it is all well and good to watch a finely-tuned Ferrari in action but you do want to see it roaring up the freeway rather than pootling around town, collecting the dry cleaning and picking up the groceries. And against Mahut, Djokovic was just tootling along, tidying up the last loose ends of the first week of the Open.

“Considering the fact that I lost two games the whole match, I think I've played really, really well,” the champion said.  “Looking just at my game, it was really fantastic from serve, the return, all the shots, going to the net. I'm happy with the way my first week went here in Australia, and hopefully I can continue the same way in the second one.

“In some ways maybe some would think the match play is going to affect maybe my next match, that I'm going to play somebody who is a more difficult opponent, I guess, higher ranked. But I don't think so because I've had enough matches, especially in 2011. I've had a lot of practice. I think I'm physically fit. So, as I said before, I think the advantage of it is that I didn't spend that much energy so I'm getting fresh into the second week.”

Yes, it was all so simple; so simple, in fact, that there was plenty of time for a hack to ponder. So, if Djokovic has earned $109,250 so far by reaching the third round, just how has he done it? Well, he has spent just 268 minutes on court, he has played 64 games, hit 80 clean winners and won 249 points. That works out at $407.65 a minute, $1,707.03 a game, $1,365.63 a winner and $438.76 a point. And that is more than enough pondering for one day.

Djokovic, meanwhile was off home. His day’s work was done and it was time to put his feet up. His next opponent – be it Lleyton Hewitt or Milos Raonic – was billed for the night session and that made Djokovic’s day: he was scything through the draw and was home and hosed in double quick time while his rivals still had to sweat and graft.

“Lleyton is playing probably his favourite court in front of his home crowd. It’s not going to be easy for both,” the smiling assassin said. “I hope they go distance.”

Then again, if tennis players really did get paid by the hour, Hewitt, Australia’s very own battling dynamo, would be as rich as Croesus.