It is painful to continue Novak Djokovic’s journey at the Australian Open. The Serbian player, who faced Frenchman Enzo Couacaud on Thursday (January 19th), needed five sets to get rid of the 27-year-old. In addition to a tough opponent, “Djoker” had to deal with a hostile environment. Indeed, a drunken spectator in the stands of the Rod Laver Arena embarrassed the world number 5 many times. The second, exhausted, went so far as to ask the referee to remove the individual in the fourth set: “This guy is totally drunk. From the first point, it provokes that he is not here to watch tennis. He just wants to get inside my head. Well, I’m asking you, what are you going to do with it? You’ve heard it at least ten times, I’ve heard it 15 times, what will you do? Why don’t you kick that guy out of the stadium?But the organizers did not respond positively to the request of the 35-year-old champion.
Novak Djokovic, who was present at the post-match press conference, returned to this event where he would do well. The Serb complained that the authorities did not react: “The vast majority of fans are there to be respectful and watch the sport. Some encourage you, some don’t, that’s okay. I have a problem when guys cross the line too often. One was humiliating, provocative. I endured this for 1 hour and 30… Almost two hours, not ten minutes. There was enough. I can endure this five, six times, but the limits have been crossed. It’s not normal for me or any other player to be in this situation. Two hours is all it takes for a supervisor or chair referee to react. They didn’t.“
Worse still, Novak Djokovic appears to have exacerbated his contracting thigh injury before the Australian Grand Slam kicked off. The Serbian player does not hide that he has some fears for the rest of the tournament: “I’m worried, I can’t say I’m not. I had to take a medical break, but I don’t want to go into details. Two years ago, I had a tear in another part of me. However, I managed to win the tournament. I have to adapt to the conditions. There are two options: leave or continue. I chose to continue. I don’t know how my body will react. I take it day by day. I hope for the best, a positive outcome. We will evaluate match by match, let’s see how it goes.“We will see if Djokovic recovers enough for his next match against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday.
“The man… he’s not here to watch tennis!”
Furious Novak Djokovic loudly begs the referee to turn the audience away from the audience #AusOpen | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/IiASc4pyEj
— Eurosport (@eurosport) 19 January 2023
NO
Source: Programme Television
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
