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Defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic has survived a tough tussle with American France Tiafoe, with their second-round clash decided in four sets.

Eight-time champion Novak Djokovic says Rod Laver Arena feels like his living room, but he's unsure if the "new carpet" suits his style.

The world No.1 survived a second-round scare from American Frances Tiafoe on Wednesday to keep his Australian Open title defence alive.

The Serbian had to scramble to get past the talented world No.64 and secure a 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 win.

Djokovic next faces another American Taylor Fritz, and says the court surface could favour the 27th seed, who is a noted big server

Gunning for his 18th grand slam win, Djokovic says the court surface on the main arena is quickest it's ever been.

"It feels like my living room, to be honest - I feel comfortable playing here.

"But this is the fastest it has ever been - it's not only my opinion, I've been talking to a lot of players," Djokovic said.

"You just have to serve well as you can to win a lot of free points there.

"At the same time, if you face a big server, it's huge pressure.

"I'm going to play Fritz next round, big server, and potentially (Milos) Raonic in fourth and you need a lot of accuracy on your serves but at the same time try to pick a side in those very rare moments in the set where you can break those guys."

Tiafoe did himself no favours with two time violations on his serve which meant he surrendered his first serve, the second coming in the fourth set at 3-3 and 30-30 which contributed to a crucial break.

Even Djokovic felt it was a turning point.

"The warning for him at 30-30 when I broke his serve, these kind of things are just unlucky," Djokovic said.

"He deserved to have a first serve and to play it out all the way through. It is what it is."

Djokovic, 33, said he felt he was still nailing his timing in the first major of the year.

"It was a very close match and I was at times not feeling my timing as well as I normally am," he said.

"Credit to him (Tiafoe) as I think he has managed to come out with a great performance and quality of tennis and he put me in a difficult spot.

"At times I was too passive and I just wasn't feeling the ball today as well as I normally do."