Ten-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic invited a heckling fan to confront him face-to-face during his hard-fought second-round Australian Open 2024 win against local hope Alexei Popyrin on Wednesday.
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The 36-year-old Serb was not at his best and was irritated at times by a raucous late-night crowd at the Rod Laver Arena. But the world number one fought off four set points in the third set to claim a 6-3 4-6 7-6(4) 6-3 victory to stay on course for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title.
Alexei Popyrin’s chances quickly evaporated in the fourth set in which Novak Djokovic traded barbs with an unruly fan.
Novak Djokovic engages with a member of the crowd looking to get under his skin
#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/jLCWNe9lLE
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“I mean, you don’t want to know (what he said),” Novak Djokovic said explaining what happened later. “There was a lot of things that were being told to me on the court, particularly from that corner, and the same side the other corner. I was tolerating it for most of the match.
“At one point I had enough, and I asked him whether he wants to come down and tell it to my face. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the courage to come down. That’s what I was asking him. If you have courage, if you’re such a tough man, tough guy, come down and tell it to my face, and let’s have a discussion about it.”
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