Novak Djokovic cops another Australian Open scheduling blow

Novak Djokovic may be the king of Melbourne Park, but the Serbian star has been hit with a fresh Australian Open blow.

No top billing for you, Novak. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)

Novak Djokovic may be the king of Melbourne Park, but the world number one isn’t getting his way Down Under.

Djokovic, chasing an 11th Australian Open crown, reached a record-equalling 58th quarterfinal but his standing hasn’t been enough to secure him top billing.

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For the second straight match, the 36-year-old will take to Rod Laver Arena during the day instead of playing at his usual slot on the night schedule.

His showdown against 12th seeded American Taylor Fritz has been relegated to the second match during the day.

After being snubbed in the fourth round in favour of Aussie Alex de Minaur, the Serbian will play second fiddle to a tantalising clash between the fourth and fifth seed.

Fourth seeded Italian Jannik Sinner will square off against Russian Andrey Rublev on Tuesday night with a spot in the final four up for grabs.

No top billing for you, Novak. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)

A usual fixture for the night time schedule at the Australian Open, the change didn’t affect Djokovic during the fourth round as he made light work of Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

After cruising to victory, Djokovic delivered a cheeky response to Jim Courier when asked about the timeslot relegation.

“The way I played today, I don’t mind playing in the day, to be honest,” the 24-time grand slam champion said.

“Thank you, thank you guys for showing up also.

“I know it’s early in the day, but it’s Sunday, non-working day, thank you for showing up.

“It’s no secret I love to play at 7pm, but it wasn’t bad at all today. Not too bad.”

His match on Sunday ended a run of 15 straight night matches he has played at the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic playing back to back day sessions at the #AusOpen.

Tuesday on Rod Laver Arena:

1pm:
Gauff-Kostyuk
Djokovic-Fritz

7pm:
Sabalenka-Krejcikova
Sinner-Rublev

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 22, 2024

Djokovic came under fire from fans during his one-sided contest against Mannarino after a petulant act during the match.

After being called for a time violation on his serve, Djokovic took issue with the crowd cheering. As he began arguing with the chair umpire over the call, the boos came raining down as the Serbian elected to orchestrate the crowd like a conductor.

Fans watching on weren’t impressed and were quick to slam the world number one.

“The most unlikeable player of all time and it’s not even close,” one user wrote.

Another added: “This is why nobody likes you Novak. Not because of your nationality or the “western media”. It’s because you are a jerk. He literally only won one game the whole match at this point and was celebrating. Try acting more like Nadal and Federer. You might get some respect for once.”

A third wrote: “There is no hate or love. He’s just cringe and he should be ignored. I mean look at the score … he’s looking for unnecessary dramas and attention.”