In second round victory in Melbourne
Djokovic scolds and lets fan kick out
01/19/2023 2:21 p.m
Novak Djokovic has been undefeated at the Australian Open since 2018, if he is allowed to play. In the second round he struggles with a qualifier and still doesn’t look quite fit. Unrest also comes from the stands in Melbourne – until the tennis superstar puts things in order.
Novak Djokovic has reached the third round at the Australian Open in Melbourne despite some problems on the court and trouble in the stands. The Serb prevailed in the Rod Laver Arena against the French qualifier Enzo Couacaud 6: 1, 6: 7 (5: 7), 6: 2, 6: 0. His opponent, 191st in the world rankings, put up a surprising amount of resistance in the meantime, he himself didn’t move very well with a bandage around his injured left thigh – but Djokovic had even more problems with a small part of the fans in the Rod Laver Arena.
One spectator in particular annoyed the 35-year-old. “The boy is completely drunk, he wanted to provoke me from the first point. He’s not here to watch tennis. He just wants to get into my head,” complained the 21-time Grand Slam tournament winner in the fourth set Score of 2:0 with the referee.
Djokovic demanded that folders should take care of the troublemakers. A little later the small group of men dressed in red and white with bobble hats on their heads were led out of the hall.
Top seeded competition further decimated
“A lot happened today,” said Djokovic afterwards in the winner’s interview on the pitch, where he heard a declaration of love and then replied: “I love you too!” In the third round, the exceptional player, who has been unbeaten at the Australian Open since 2018, meets the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, whom he called his “Balkan brother”: “I hope it will be an entertaining match.”
But the muscle problems he has been struggling with for the past two weeks are worrying him. “To be honest, it’s not good at all,” Djokovic replied in the Eurosport interview when asked how his thigh was doing: “I look from day to day. It felt better in the last match than today. It’s right to God to help me.”
At his opening match two days earlier, Djokovic had been warmly welcomed by almost all fans and enthusiastically cheered. “If I had to choose a place and a time, it would be the night session here in the Rod Laver Arena,” Djokovic said afterwards. A year ago, the tennis star was expelled from Australia because of a visa that was declared invalid.
On the way to his tenth title in Melbourne, Djokovic has one less major competitor: After Rafael Nadal, who was in first place, had already retired, number two on the seeding list, Casper Ruud, also said goodbye. The Norwegian surprisingly lost his second round match against US outsider Jenson Brooksby in four sets.