WATCH: Djokovic shows all emotions in Paris victory

Novak Djokovic did not have an easy day in the office on Friday. The world No. 22 endured some emotional highs and lows in a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Robert Bautista Agut.

The good news is that he's safely through to the fourth round. The bad news is he lost control of himself, pulling out some theatrics here and there, including a wild racquet smash in the second-set tiebreaker, at 6-6 no less.

"In these kind of circumstances, sometimes emotions get the worst out of you or the best out of you, whatever you want to call it," Djokovic said. "At times in my career, these kind of situations, when I would scream or throw a racquet, it would kind of wake me up and help me to just kind of free myself from that pressure that is just building throughout the match, but there are times when it doesn't help. So it's really hard to say what's the right thing to do."

His day certainly started happily enough:

But the 12-time Grand Slam winner appears to be struggling with the mental fortitude and overall match toughness that has made him such a successful champion. Bautista Agut is the first Top-15 player he's beaten in over a year.

"I have to embrace this kind of situation in life where it's different," Djokovic said on Wednesday. "I'm not—and I don't want to be the same person and player that I was two, three, four years ago. It's just different. I have different life.

"So you have to adjust to it, embrace it, and try to find best possible solutions to balance everything and thrive in every aspect of your life."

Djokovic was already rattled in the beginning games of the first set, and then came the racquet smash after letting opportunity slip away in the second. But by the time he survived a flurry of breaks in the third set, he had turned his attitude around and was amping up the crowd.

"You can't control emotions. I mean, at least in my opinion," Djokovic said. "You can observe them, you can try to master the ability to avoid getting too much into situations which compromise your focus and composure, but you can't control them.

"I don't know if anyone can do that. If someone can do that, please tell me so I can speak to them."

The 30-year-old rode the rollercoaster of emotions all the way to relief after match point.

Djokovic earns a fourth-round meeting with Fernando Verdasco, who whipped past No. 4-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets.

—Tennis Channel Plus features up to 10 courts of live action from Roland Garros beginning Sunday, May 27 at 5:00am ET.

—Catch up and watch all your favorite stars anytime on-demand with Tennis Channel Plus.