Djokovic and Monfils on Thursday were forced to play under normal rules in anything but normal conditions. Melbourne hit its top of 39 degrees halfway through the second-round match, with the court temperature edging towards an unthinkable 70 degrees.
Both men were struggling, but Monfils was clearly more affected than Djokovic.
Even the usually calm, cool and collected Djokovic was struggling in the conditions early. He double-faulted the first two points of the match and lost three of his opening four service games.
He had 10 unforced errors in the first three games against Monfils and the first winner didn't come until deep into the fifth game.
Djokovic lost the first set 6-4, something he hadn't done with Monfils since 2013.
After 2 hours and 45 minutes, 105 combined unforced errors and an incredible 26 double-faults, the real score will read 15-0.
Thursday's match marks the 15th time that Djokovic has defeated Monfils at tour level.
The Serbian will now play Spaniard Albert Ramod-Vinolas, who had a very different day with a straight sets victory against American wildcard Tim Smyczek.
At the press conference Djokovic was reflecting on the match.
