Novak Djokovic refuses to continue playing as Serb throws strop at Australian Open

survived another test to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, beating qualifier Jaime Faria.

The match wasn't without some drama, as the 10-time champion became frustrated with a sudden disruption mid-match and refused to continue until the umpire fixed the problem.

There was confusion when Djokovic stormed the chair at 5-5 in the second set immediately after winning a cat-and-mouse 29-shot rally.

The world No. 7 wasn't happy that the floodlights had been turned on inside Rod Laver Arena and refused to play until they were off. He attempted to plead his case to Marija Cicak in his native language, putting his hand on his hips as he leaned on the net.

Faria soon joined them, confused about the commotion, as Djokovic tried to propose a solution - turning them off immediately and waiting until the end of the set to turn them on. "Unless we wait for the end of the set if they want to switch them on," he said.

Cicak told both players they would have to wait for the staff to intervene and turn the lights on before they could continue the match. "Okay, then we wait," Djokovic added.

Both players agreed to the brief delay, grabbing a quick drink from their benches as the umpire got straight on her walkie-talkie to ask for the lights to be turned off.

"So a pause here as they sort out the roof, the lights?" Barry Millns asked on commentary. Lucie Ahl, also calling the match, replied: "Well I think it's the lights. I don't think either of them want the lights on is my understanding."

A huge cheer rang out around Rod Laver Arena when the lights finally came off. Ahl added: "There we go.

"They obviously just came on and if they both agree then the umpire goes with what they both prefer even though there was a slight delay."

But things went from bad to worse for Djokovic late in the second set as he was forced to save a set point before going to a tiebreak, where the world No. 125 levelled the score by taking it 7-6(4).

At the conclusion of the second set, Djokovic could also be heard asking Cicak about the lights again. "Lights on or off? I don't know," she laughed.

The Serb soon stepped it up and forgot about the distractions, storming through the next two sets to win 6-1 6-7(4) 6-3 6-2.

Things won't get any easier as Djokovic now faces 26th seed Tomas Machac for a spot in the second week. Djokovic has dropped sets in his first two matches and will look to sharpen his game with the help of coach Andy Murray ahead of the next round.