‘Say it to my face’: Novak Djokovic in bust-up with heckling fan during Australian Open win
Defending champion Novak Djokovic stirred more controversy at the Australian Open when he verbally confronted a heckling spectator during his second-round win over Alexei Popyrin.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner told a fan to “say it to my face” early in the fourth and final set of a testing match against home favourite Popyrin that ended 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
“It was not a great atmosphere for me to play in to be honest but you have to find a way to win, accept the conditions you are playing in,” Djokovic told Eurosport.
“People made a noise between first and second serves the entire match, but it is what it is – it’s a Grand Slam, it’s a fight. Of course it annoys you but at the same time you have to accept it and go with it.
“What really frustrates me is when somebody is heckling, so I confronted the hecklers. I invited a guy to come and say it to my face, because he said a lot of nice things.
“He was apologising from far away. All of a sudden there is absence of courage when he needs to face me.”
Djokovic, who missed the 2022 Australian Open after being deported in a row over his Covid vaccination status, looked short of his best against world No43 Popyrin.
The top seed, struggling with illness and a wrist problem, saved set points in the third before winning a crucial tie-break and will now face Andy Murray’s conqueror Tomas Etcheverry.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, fourth seed Jannik Sinner and fifth seed Andrey Rublev enjoyed straight-sets wins over Jesper de Jong and Christopher Eubanks respectively.