Novak Djokovic dubbed ‘most unlikeable player ever’ over mid-game act

World number one Novak Djokovic has been dubbed the “most unlikeable player ever” over one act during his fourth round contest.

Fans weren’t happy with Novak Djokovic’s fourth round act. (Photo by David GRAY / AFP)

Sorry Novak, you’ll never be as loved as Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.

The world number one dug even further under the skin of tennis fans around the world on Sunday with one act during his fourth round contest against Adrian Mannarino.

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Djokovic was in complete control of the match after racing through the opening two sets 6-0, 6-0.

It was in the third set when Mannarino finally got on the scoreboard, ruling out a potentially historic triple-bagel scoreline. Those in attendance erupted into raucous applause at the sight of Mannarino winning a game.

But it was an act from Djokovic that stole the limelight and left fans calling out the 36-year-old Serbian.

Instead of allowing his opponent to have his moment on Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic attempted to steal the attention back.

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 24-time grand slam winner elected to orchestrate the crowd like a conductor.

Djokovic wanted the attention. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

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

“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.”

You either hate Novak Djokovic for stunts like this or you love him for it and I do genuinely think both opinions are entirely valid.pic.twitter.com/qGWMaicFOy

— Scott Barclay (@BarclayCard18) January 21, 2024

Djokovic cruised to victory, ultimately claiming the 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 win to book his spot in his 58th career quarter-final.

In his interview with Jim Courier following the contest the Serbian star made an eyebrow raising admission.

“The first two sets were some of the best sets I’ve played in a while,” he told Courier courtside.

“I really wanted to lose that game in the third set, the tension was building up so much in the stadium.

“I needed to get that out of the way to refocus on what I needed to do to close out the match.”

Djokovic uses the crowd hate as fuel. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Djokovic has now won 32 consecutive matches at the Australian Open, his last loss came back in 2018 at the hands of South Korea’s Chung Hyeon.

After his latest win he said he thought there would be less stress around practice and matches this season but admitted the intensity was as fierce as ever even though he is now 36.

“You can see it even today,” he said. “I was 6-0, 2-0 up. It was a long game, and I was like going on with discussions, heated discussions, with my box.

“I always look for the best performance from myself so I put a lot of effort every single day into making it happen. When it doesn’t happen, I’m frustrated.

“It’s still there. The fire is still burning. I think that’s what allowed me to be where I am and achieve the things that I have achieved.”

He’ll now prepare to take on 12th seeded American Taylor Fritz in a quarter-final showdown.