WATCH: Novak Djokovic fumes about heckling Where’s Wally fans
Nick Kyrgios might not be at the Australian Open, but his trademark rants at the umpires are courtesy of Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic overcame a hamstring injury to beat Enzo Couacaud in the second round on Wednesday, eventually coming through 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-0.
It was a testing match for the 21-time Grand Slam winner, though, with the hamstring injury, for which he needed an off-court medical time-out, far from his only concern.
He also had to endure being heckled from the crowd – from a group of spectators dressed as Where’s Wally (Waldo, for American readers).
It got so bad that Djokovic opted to complaint to the umpire, in a scene very reminiscent of Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final last year.
“The guy’s drunk out of his mind,” Djokovic complained. “From the first point he’s been provoking. He just wants to get in my head.
“So I’m asking you, what are you going to do about it?
"The guy's ????? ??? ?? ??? ????… he's not here to watch tennis!"
A furious Novak Djokovic pleads with the umpire to remove a loud spectator from the audience ?#AusOpen | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/IiASc4pyEj
— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 19, 2023
“You heard him at least ten times, I heard him 50 times. What are you going to do? “Why don’t you get security to get him out of the stadium?”
The fans were eventually escorted out, just as the one Nick Kyrgios complained ‘looked like she’d had about 700 drinks’ on Centre Court.
Of course the twist in the tale there was that the fan took legal action against Kyrgios and won, with the Australian having to issue a public apology.
Novak Djokovic and his injured hamstring will now face another big test in round three when he will play former world number three Grigor Dimitrov. He is chasing what would be a tenth Australian Open crown and a record-equalling 22nd career major.
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