“Now I am the bad guy,” Novak Djokovic slams the chair umpire for not controlling the crowd during his second-round match at the Australian Open 2023
Novak Djokovic was not happy about the disrespectful behavior by some people in the crowd during his second round match of the Australian Open 2023.
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Novak Djokovic and the crowd
Serbian World No.5 Novak Djokovic, now looking unstoppable, other than his own body, had a moment of disbelief in his second-round match of the Australian Open 2023. Some fans in the stands were provoking the tournament’s best player. Djokovic had to complain to the chair umpire a number of times before they were thrown out of the stadium. He was playing against Frenchman Enzo Couacaud. Despite the crowd distractions and left hamstring issue, the Serbian closed out the match 6-1, 6-7(5-7), 6-2, 6-0.
Djokovic talked about the crowd incident at the post-press conference. He said, “I have a problem when somebody crosses the line, numerous times. In the beginning, the influence of alcohol was obvious. Particularly one guy, you would have heard his voice, various times tonight. You know, insulting me and provoking me. and saying things that were not respectful at all. I tolerated it for 1 and a half hours, almost 2 hours.“
He continued, “And, I was giving signs to the chair umpire, looking at the chair umpire, and looking at the guy. And the chair umpire, supervisor -whoever is responsible would have done a bit more and would have anticipated. Me coming to the chair umpire and looking like a bad guy. This is how I am going to be looked at in the media. And in the public, I am the guy who kicked some other guy, you know. It’s just unnecessary.”
The Australian Open was taking extra precautions to safeguard Djokovic this year. Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley himself promised this as the Serbian star is still not vaccinated. Some of the Aussies are still not ready to welcome him after the deportation saga last year. Political banners and disrespectful behavior from the crowd is banned. The Russia-Ukraine war is another reason for taking strict steps this year.
Novak Djokovic has won his 23rd consecutive match at the Australian Open
The Serbian gladiator Novak Djokovic looks unstoppable in Melbourne Park, yet again. He is yet to lose a match in Melbourne after his fourth-round loss against Chung Hyeon in 2018. While winning his 23rd consecutive match, Novak faced some minor movement issues in the second set but he cleared off the doubts by playing God-level tennis in the third and fourth sets. The bagel in the fourth set was a display of clean hitting by the Serbian. The final score was 6-1, 6-7(5-7), 6-2, 6-0 against Enzo Couacaud.
If he continues to play like he did in the fourth set, there won’t be many left in the draw who can beat him. With the hip injury ending the dream of a second consecutive Australian title for his biggest rival Rafael Nadal, odds are in favor of Djokovic. In addition to his amazing display of baseline tennis, the draw is also becoming favorable.
With Nick Kyrgios withdrawing, Taylor Fritz, Matteo Berrettini, and Casper Ruud eliminated in his half of the draw, there are not many players who can pose problems. Maybe, an inspired Holger Rune in the quarter-finals if it goes as per script. The Danish wunderkind, who dethroned the Serbian in the Paris Masters 1000 final last year, will find a best of five sets a different ball game.
Djokovic will face Bulgarian World No.28 Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. “Baby Fed,” 31 now, has only won once against the Serbian in 10 matches played. If the hamstring issue doesn’t cause more problems, Djokovic wining looks inevitable. Even a 70% fit Djokovic will be enough to win most of the matches. He has proved the same yet again in the second round.
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Vipul Payattuparambil
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