Novak Djokovic is on the hunt for his 11th Australian Open crown and his progress has been pretty smooth sailing so far.
Djokovic has beaten Pedro Martinez and Francesco Maestrelli without dropping a set and he continued that form against Botic van de Zandschulp.
The Serbian comfortably took the first two sets from the Dutchman, although he did seem irritable on Rod Laver Arena.
Djokovic was mere inches away from receiving a disqualification after ferociously hitting a ball away in anger.
Novak Djokovic nearly hits a ball kid at the Australian Open
Despite being a set and a break up, Djokovic appeared unhappy on court against the big serving Dutchman.
During the second set, Djokovic was struggling to extend his break of serve as he attempted to break van de Zandschulp’s serve yet again.
The Dutchman remained strong on serve and Djokovic’s discomfort in the match reached a boiling point when he wildly knocked a ball in the direction of a ball kid.
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The ball narrowly missed the ball kid at the net and the 24-time Grand Slam champion instantly looked sheepish.
He avoided the gaze of the umpire and continued on to the next point without even receiving a code violation.
This would not be the first time Djokovic was disqualified from a Grand Slam for hitting a ball at a courtside member.
The star hit a line judge with a ball during a match with Pablo Carreno Busta at the 2020 US Open, which forced him to exit the competition in the fourth round.
Novak Djokovic has struggled against Botic van de Zandschulp before
Djokovic’s dominance on the ATP Tour means he rarely holds anything but a positive head-to-head record against his rivals on tour.
However, van de Zandschulp has previously managed to find a way to shock the tennis icon on the big stage.
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The Dutchman stunned the Serbian last year by knocking him out in three sets of the round of 64 at Indian Wells.
Djokovic has only ever played van de Zandschulp on one other occasion, which came all the way back in 2022.
The Serbian beat the Dutchman in straight sets in Kazakhstan, dropping just four games against the big server.
