Novak Djokovic clashes with Australian Open heckler during victory over Tomas Machac

He had it almost all his way on the court, but Novak Djokovic’s biggest battle during his third-round win at the Australian Open came with a heckler from the crowd. Here’s how he responded.

Novak Djokovic is into the fourth round for the 17th time at the Australian Open. That’s an incredible stat by itself but what does it mean for the next week?

Is the 10-time Australian Open champion looking capable of becoming the champion again?

The jury is still out on that because as always with Djokovic it’s hard to get an exact handle on his form and fitness given there seems to be so many fluctuations with both at the moment.

The facts about his third round encounter were that he was way too classy for Czech 26th seed Tomas Machac, taking 2hr 22min to win 6-1 6-4 6-4.

It was the first time in the tournament he didn’t lose a set which would suggest the form indicator is heading in the right direction.

But it’s the physical side which continues to confuse. There were times on Rod Laver Arena last night where the 37-year-old looked like he could barely move.

Early in the second set he called for the trainer and seemed to indicate he was having some breathing issues. He has had abdominal issues recently and had tape around his stomach at the start of the tournament.

“I was trying to catch my breath, I was struggling as I’m not 19 anymore,” Djokovic said afterwards.

“You go through different stages in a match (with your body).”

Djokovic gestures to the crowd after his victory. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

What seemed more upsetting for the Serbian superstar was a fan in the crowd who the No. 7 seed complained about in the third set because he was calling “out” during points.

After sealing the win, Djokovic pointed to the fan and gestured for him to leave the arena and then in the post-match interview he continued to engage.

“I am very hot headed right now,” he said in reference to his scrap with the fan.

“I’ll try to be calm and diplomatic now, I think I played really well honestly, I am very happy with my game.

“I’m slightly surprised with the result to win in straight sets and it is definitely the best match I have played in the tournament.”

Djokovic was pumped up after reaching the fourth round.

In his on-court interview, Djokovic said: “Sorry mate, I have a wife. We can have a drink though. Maybe you had a few already.

“Him and I were going back and forth quite a while actually.

“Listen I’m happy to have a drink with him now the match is over, we can reflect nicely, on what we said to each other during the match.”

Djokovic and injury clouds during the tournament is a well travelled road, in fact twice in recent Australian Opens it has been a major talking point.

In 2021 he won the title after suffering a stomach tear in the third round while in 2023 he again found a way to hold the trophy up despite having a 3cm tear in his hamstring.

These superhuman efforts are the stuff of legend although many – often including his opponents – take them with a grain of salt given medical experts would say it’s impossible to do what he did with those types of injuries.

We wonder if the heckler will take Novak up on that offer of a drink? Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

But Djokovic is the greatest male player in history and one more grand slam win (No. 25) away from holding the most by anyone in the game so he’s shown multiple times he can do incredible things.

And his coping mechanism to handle in-tournament injuries is to lift his output and go to another level which is the complete opposite reaction to normal people.

Machac, 24, didn’t really have any weapons to hurt Djokovic with the most noticeable part of his game being his tight shorts which were decidedly smaller than normal.

The Czech – who reached the third round at Melbourne Park last year and actually defeated Djokovic at their last meeting on clay in Geneva in 2024 – zipped around the court a bit but the gulf between him and the former No. 1 was glaringly big.

Djokovic will get to test himself against another Czech in the fourth round, this time No. 24 seed Jiri Lehecka who had a straight sets win over Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi on Friday night.