[imagesource:bethwilson/flickr]

Novak Djokovic reached the third round of the Australian Open after surviving a scary few moments against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, but one of the highlights of the match was when the Serb hit back at a heckler who was giving him grief from the stands.

Djokovic was having a hard time dealing with the Australian as well as the heckler, and eventually yelled at the guy to  “Come down and tell it to my face!”

With a forearm like that, we don’t blame the heckler for just shrinking down into his chair. The exchange seemed to ignite a fire in the world No. 1 though, and he went on to dismiss Popyrin for 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Former Wimbledon finalist and tennis badboy Nick Kyrgios, who was commentating on the match, said: “Just say the word Novak and I’ll run out of this commentary box and escort him out myself.” Sit down Nick, Novak can take care of himself.

“Don’t poke the bear” 👀

Novak Djokovic responds to a member of the crowd looking to get under his skin 🍿 pic.twitter.com/1S9wQxwemg

— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 17, 2024

Djokovic later said about the incident, “I mean, you don’t want to know [what he said]. There were 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 wanted 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.”

Addressing his tennis performance during the post-match interview, Djokovic said, “He had quite an easy forehand and he missed it. I didn’t do anything special, I was lucky at that point and that game to get away. He was the better player for a set and a half. The momentum shifted in the tie-break, I managed to put one more ball in the court than he did but that’s all.”

Djokovic will face Argentina’s Tomás Martín Etcheverry next in the third round.

[source:guardian]