“If you want me to jump in the crowd, I’ll do it bro” – Nick Kyrgios backs Novak Djokovic after Serb’s altercation with heckler at Australian Open

Nick Kyrgios has backed Novak Djokovic in the wake of the Serb's recent altercation with a heckler at the 2024 Australian Open.

Djokovic downed Australia's Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 in the second round of the Happy Slam on Wednesday, January 17. He faced constant opposition from the crowd at Rod Laver Arena as he competed against the home favorite.

At one point in the fourth set, the Serb confronted a heckler in the stands who tried to get under his skin. During a chat with Eurosport after the match, the Serb described his experience with the crowd, saying:

"I was feeling a lot of mixed emotions today on the court, not a great atmosphere to be playing to be honest for me. But again, you have to find a way to win and accept the circumstances and the conditions you’re playing in."

"People basically make noise between first and second serves the entire match, so it is what it is, you know it’s a Grand Slam, it’s a fight. Of course, it annoys you but at the same time you’ve to accept it and go with it but what really frustrates me is when somebody is heckling so I confront the hecklers as I did."

The World No. 1 then turned to Nick Kyrgios in the interview panel and asked him if challenging the spectator was the right move.

"I think Kygs [Kyrgios] loves that. Kygs did you like that exchange? I invited the guy to come and tell it to my face whatever he was saying. He was saying a lot of nice things so he was apologizing from far away and all of a sudden, there’s absence of courage when he needs to face me," he said.

Kyrgios hilariously replied:

"When he was heckling you Novak, I said to the commentary box and everyone worldwide, I was like, 'Look if you want me to jump in the crowd and sort him out, I'll do it for you bro. I’ve got your back 100 percent'."

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Novak Djokovic: "I'm definitely not feeling or playing my best"

Novak Djokovic

During the interview, Novak Djokovic conceded to not being at his best level thus far at the Australian Open, a tournament he has won a staggering 10 times already.

"I don’t want to really get into the details about how I feel but I’m definitely not feeling or playing my best," the 24-time Grand Slam champion stated.

Djokovic nevertheless vowed to stay positive for the remainder of the fortnight in Melbourne.

"I’ve been in this kind of situation before many times and hopefully as I said on the court, I’ll build on this as the tournament progresses I know what to do and good thing about a Slam is that you’ve an extra day of rest between matches and so hopefully, things will go in a positive direction from here," he added.

The World No. 1 will next take on Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round.