Novak Djokovic blew up at the chair umpire after heckling from a fan among a bunch of Where’s Wally impersonators got under his skin as he beat French qualifier Enzo Couacaud 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-0 to advance to the third round
The Serbian superstar overcame ongoing hamstring trouble and insults from a “drunk” spectator to progress as he chases a record-extending 10th Australian Open title.
While ultimately too powerful and classy for world No.191 Couacaud at Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic did not have things all his own way.
Couacaud recovered from a rolled right ankle to level the match at one set all, snaring the second in a tiebreak.
The hiccup frustrated Djokovic, who trailed 5-4 in the second set when he left the court for treatment and had his left thigh re-strapped.
The 21-times major champion steadied to claim the third set but ran into another hurdle when the noisy spectator went too far early in the fourth.
Djokovic pleaded with the chair umpire to have security guards remove the offender from the crowd.
He got his wish when the man and three others – all in matching dress-up costumes – were ejected at the next change of ends.
“Particularly one guy, you heard his voice various times tonight, was insulting me and provoking me and saying things that were not respectful at all,” Djokovic said.
“I tolerated for over one-and-a-half hours, almost two hours.
“I was giving signs to the chair umpire, looking at the chair umpire looking at the guy.
“I think the chair umpire, supervisor, whoever is responsible for handling the crowd, should have done a bit more.”
Not surprisingly, Open officials didn’t have much trouble spotting the Where’s Wally group and they were asked to leave, which they did to a chorus of cheers and jeers and the odd handshake from sympathetic spectators.
Djokovic feared he would now look like a “bad guy” because it was his complaint that led to the spectator being kicked out.
He had strapping on his left thigh and was restricted in his movement throughout Thursday night’s match, taking a medical timeout late in the second set.
He will not practice before his next match against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday, instead focusing on rehabilitating an injury that flared up in Adelaide earlier this month.
“I am worried. I mean, I cannot say that I’m not. I have reason to be worried,” Djokovic said. “But at the same time I have to accept the circumstances and try to adjust myself with my team.
“My physio and medical team has been doing everything possible so that I can be able to play every match.”
Djokovic overcame a torn abdominal muscle to win his ninth Open title on his most recent appearance at Melbourne Park, in 2021.
Former world No. 1 Andy Murray has shown Thanasi Kokkinakis who’s boss, grinding out a gob-smacking five-set comeback victory to earn a spot in the Australian Open third round.
Winning the opening two sets and leading 5-2 in the third, Kokkinakis looked on track to complete a rare daily treble by Australian men, with Alexei Popyrin and Alex de Minaur earlier banking rousing second-round wins.
But instead the South Australian was left heartbroken with the Scot spoiling the party with a 4-6 6-7 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 7-5 defeat which lasted five hours 45 minutes – the second longest in Australian Open history.
Starting at 10.22pm and ending at 4.05am, the match threatened the record for the latest grand slam finish which was a 4:34am epic in 2008 at Melbourne Park when Lleyton Hewitt trumped Marcos Bagdahtis.
With his early career ravaged by injury, Kokkinakis had never previously gone past the Open second round, only once before reaching the third round at a grand slam with that high coming back in 2015 at the French Open.
It looked like his fortunes would change but never-say-die Murray refused to stay on script.
“It’s unbelievable that I managed to turn that around,” said the 35-year-old, with the match the longest of his stellar career.
“Thanasi was serving unbelievably well, hitting his forehand huge and I don’t know how I managed to get through it.
“I did start playing better as the match went on and I have a big heart.
“It’s amazing to win the match but now I want to go to bed.”
“Everyone, including me, I think we should all get off to bed now.”
Visibly shattered as he left the court, Kokkinakis wasn’t available to media as he underwent treatment for an undisclosed condition.
Kokkinakis struggled to close out the first three sets, blowing five set points in the second before taking it in a tiebreak, and in the third he led 5-2.
The 26-year-old temporarily lost the plot when leading 2-0 in the third when he received a time violation on his serve after restarting his action when a fan called out.
A furious Kokkinakis stormed toward the chair umpire, remonstrating and saying it was payback because the umpire “felt bad” about giving Murray an earlier one.
Kokkinakis then lost the game as he failed to put away four overheads after Murray scrambled madly, with the Australian smashing his racquet into the court and earning a code violation.
Three-time major winner Murray, ranked 66, then used the chaos to consolidate, levelling at 2-2.
Kokkinakis managed to regroup, with his firepower giving him the chance to serve for the match at 5-4. However, another wobble allowed the wily Scot back in and the home hope surrendered the tiebreak with a wild volley.
Despite competing with a metal hip, Murray showed no signs of slowing down and dominated the fourth to put the match on level terms.
The pair went toe-to-toe in the fifth set, at 3-3 Kokkinakis saving four break points to stay on serve to the delight of the large Margaret Court Arena crowd who stayed until the death.
He then saved another four at 5-5, but Murray fired a forehand winner to conjure the break, allowing him to serve out the match.
Murray saved a serve for tournament officials for allowing the match to go ahead so late and was the latest player to criticise the Open balls.
“I don’t know who it’s beneficial for,” he said of the late finish.
“Rather than the discussion being about an epic Murray-Kokkinakis match it ends in a bit of a farce.
“If I had a ball kid who is coming home at 5am I’m snapping at that; it’s not beneficial for them, the umpires, the officials, I don’t think it’s amazing for the fans or good for players.”
Former world No.1 Boris Becker has claimed the great career of Rafael Nadal is coming to an end.
That would be another step towards the changing of the guard at the summit of men’s tennis after nearly two decades in which it has been dominated by three men.
Nadal exited the Australian Open at the second round stage, his title defence fatally undermined by a hip muscle injury.
It was the latest in a series of injuries that have afflicted the 36-year-old Spaniard since he won a record 22nd grand slam title at Roland Garros last June. He underwent a scan in Melbourne on Thursday morning that showed a grade two tear of his iliopsoas muscle.
An update from Nadal’s team said he would return to Spain for a period of rest and treatment, with the normal recovery time for the injury from six to eight weeks. If that timeframe proves correct, Nadal could also miss Indian Wells at the start of March but should be recovered in time for his favourite European clay-court swing.
Becker told Eurosport the injury-affected loss was “the first step towards his [Nadal’s] retirement”
A scan in Melbourne on Thursday revealed a grade two tear of Nadal’s iliopsoas muscle. That is the main hip flexor and is central to the strength and integrity of the hip joint, such a vital and vulnerable part of the body in elite-level tennis.
“An injury like that is hard and at this age it takes even longer to get back into shape,” said Becker. “I hope and pray that he will get well soon and that we will see him looking fresh again in Paris at the latest. But I think his days are numbered.”
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Nadal’s team said he would be out for six weeks, which would rule him out of Indian Wells, where he lost in the final last year to Taylor Fritz after playing with a broken rib.
He should be fit to play in the European claycourt swing that culminates in the French Open, which Nadal won last year despite requiring an injection to numb his foot.
He was then forced to withdraw from Wimbledon after tearing an abdominal muscle before his semi-final with Nick Kyrgios.
He ruptured that muscle again before the US Open when he lost in the fourth round.
Speaking before the scan Nadal said another long injury break would make it “super difficult in the end to be in rhythm and to be competitive and to be ready to fight for the things that I really want to fight for. Let’s see how the injury is, and then let’s see how I can manage to follow the calendar.”
Of Nadal’s two great rivals Roger Federer retired last year, at 41, having played his last grand slam in 2021 and won his 20th, and last, at Melbourne in 2018, aged 36.
The other member of the big three, Novak Djokovic, age 35, is into the third round in Melbourne as he chases his 22nd grand slam title. He is, though, carrying a hamstring injury.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has added motivation as the third-seeded Greek crowd favourite and women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek headline the third-round action on day five of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
Tsitsipas is the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw following the shock exits of top-seeded title holder Rafael Nadal and world No.3 Casper Ruud in the space of 24 hours.
The 24-year-old – a three-time Open semi-finalist and 2021 French Open runner-up to Novak Djokovic – takes on Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor for the first time and has the advantage of playing on one of his favourite courts.
“It’s always a pleasure playing on Rod Laver Arena,” Tsitsipas said after his second-round win on Wednesday night. “I get some good memories here.”
Iga Swiatek. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Tsitsipas is so popular in Melbourne, which boasts a large Greek community, that he famously had a souvlaki named in his honour at one city restaurant looking to cash in on his annual trips to the city.
Tsitsipas is but one of a host of players seeking to make the most of the premature departures of Nadal and Ruud. Runner-up the past two years to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev is perhaps best placed to cash in.
On Friday, exciting American Sebastian Korda stands in between the Russian seventh seed and a spot in the last 16 once again.
With similarly high hopes, precocious sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on Argentine Francisco Cerundolo while his Canadian countryman Denis Shapovalov plays 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
American Francis Tiafoe and Russian Karen Khachanov, both seeded US Open semi-final losers last year, also square off, no doubt with big intentions.
Women’s favourite Swiatek is expected to make light work of Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa, while highly-fancied American contenders Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff are favoured to advance past Marta Kostyuk and Bernarda Pera respectively.
But 10th seed Madison Keys may find life tougher against two-time Open champion Victoria Azarenka as she aims to go one better than last year’s semi-final loss to retired reigning champion Ash Barty.
World No.2 Ons Jabeur has crashed out of the Australian Open amid a flurry of unforced errors against Marketa Vondrousova.
Runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, Jabeur arrived at Melbourne Park this month with high hopes of breaking through for her first major title.
But very little went the 28-year-old’s way in a 6-1 5-7 6-1 second-round defeat at Rod Laver Arena, completed after 1am AEDT on Friday morning.
There’s no Australians in singles action on Friday but reigning Wimbledon champion Max Purcell, with new partner Jordan Thompson, is among a host of locals playing doubles.
PLAYER OF THE DAY: Jenson Brooksby – the unseeded American sent world No.3 Casper Ruud packing with a stirring five-set win after needing six match points to seal the biggest victory of his career.
STAT OF THE DAY: After coughing up a whopping 19 double-faults in her corresponding second-round win last year, world No.5 Aryna Sabalenka served up a warning to her rivals in a 6-1 6-3 drubbing of Shelby Rogers that didn’t feature a single double-fault from the Belarusian.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “This win means so much to me. I had the toughest year last year. I’ve won as many matches this year as I won last year and it’s only January.” – Aussie wildcard Alexei Popyrin after scoring an emotion-charged 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 upset win over world No.9 Taylor Fritz to reach the last 32 of the Open for a third time.
TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: The exits of Ruud and top seed Nadal in the space of 24 hours has left Novak Djokovic an odds-on favourite capture a 10th men’s crown while fourth seed Caroline Garcia and Sabalenka continue to loom as women’s title threats after confident second-round wins.
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