Novak Djokovic is not yet at his best in Melbourne. The defending champion battles a cold, finds his game and wins – but not without getting into a fight with a spectator.
Novak Djokovic reached the third round of the Australian Open with some difficulties. The defending champion prevailed on Wednesday evening against the Australian Alexei Popyrin 6:3, 4:6, 7:6 (7:4), 6:3, but as with his first round success against the Croatian qualifier Dino, he knew Prizmic cannot be completely convinced. The “Djoker” showed how much he had lost when he let out emotional cheers to the audience after the end of the game.
Verbal argument with spectators
In the third set, the 36-year-old Serb even had to fend off four set points. Djokovic, who has already won the tennis spectacle in Melbourne ten times, converted his fifth match point after 3:11 hours. The world number one didn’t look 100 percent fit, but as so often in his career, he found a way to win the game.
The Serb seemed to be boiling inside, but hardly showed his frustration at the complicated game – until the score was 2-2 in the fourth set. The world number one got into a fight with a spectator in the stands, argued with him for several seconds, acknowledged by occasional whistles from the audience, before he started to serve. In the end it was 6:3 and thus the match win, Djokovic will now face the Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round.
“He was the better player for a set and a half. I was lucky to win the one game in the third set,” Djokovic said after the match. “I haven’t played my best tennis yet. But in the first rounds you often play against people who have nothing to lose. I hope that I can take my game to another level in the coming games.”