"Looking like a bad guy" - Novak Djokovic explains why he was unhappy with drunk fans, feels Australian Open officials should have intervened earlier

Novak Djokovic has stressed that he does not want to be painted in a bad light by the media in connection with the heckling incident he experienced during his second-round win over Enzo Couacaud at the Australian Open on Thursday.

Djokovic was heckled and insulted by a small group of fans who were inebriated. It is unclear what they said to him, but the Serb eventually lost his cool in the fourth set when he demanded that the fans be removed from the stadium.

Chair umpire Fergus Murphy obliged soon after and the fans were ejected from the stadium. Naturally, the nine-time Australian Open champion was quizzed on the topic during his press conference, where he made it clear that he does not want to generalize fans based on a few bad eggs.

"Well, first of all, I have to say it was the situation that involved few individuals, so I'm not generalizing here. Most of the people, super majority of the people, is here or some other situations that I had in the past in some other tournaments, is always respectful," Novak Djokovic stated.

"They are great fans and pay the ticket to watch you. I respect that. That's sport. Some people like you more, cheer for you, some don't. It's not something that I would say I have a problem with," he added.

Djokovic further stressed that he does not like fans who do not respect a player's boundaries. He also revealed that the individual in question was meting out distasteful comments to him throughout the match.

"What I have a problem with is when somebody's crossing the line - numerous times. From the very beginning, guys that were under the influence of alcohol, it was obvious, and I was grabbing my towel very close to them, 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," the Serb revealed.

Explaining that there is only so much one can tolerate, the 35-year-old lamented the fact that the Australian Open authorities did not intervene on time. He reckons an early intervention on their part could have spared him the ignominy of being painted as the "bad guy" by the media.

"So 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," he said.

"I think the chair umpire, supervisor, whoever is responsible for handling the crowd, should have done a bit more and anticipated me coming out to the chair umpire and looking like a bad guy because this is how I'm going to look like now in the media, in the public, because I'm the guy that kicked out some other guy," he added.

Djokovic believes players should never be put in a similar situation such as himself given that the impetus for maintaining decorum lies in the hands of the chair umpire and supervisor.

"It's just unnecessary because why should we as players be put in a position where we have to always react when it's been two hours. It's not been 10 minutes. This is what I mind, and this is why I felt the need to go out there because I had enough, you know?" Djokovic continued.

"I feel like it's unnecessary for me or any other player to be put in this position after long time that match is already going, during of the match has already been two hours. It's plenty of time for supervisor, chair umpire, whoever is responsible, to react before a player," Djokovic added.

The Serb was, however, grateful that chair umpire Fergus Murphy eventually took action and sent the unruly fans packing from the stadium.

"I can tolerate five, six times somebody telling me something, but there is a limit. That limit was crossed, and I stepped in and I asked the chair umpire, is he going to do something about it or not? He did, and I thanked him," the Serb stated.

Novak Djokovic to face Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the Australian Open 2023

Grigor Dimitrov celebrates a point against Aslan Karatsev at the 2023 Australian Open

Novak Djokovic will face a buoyant Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday, in what will be the Serb's toughest test at the tournament so far.

Dimitrov has looked in fine form so far, having accounted for Aslan Karatsev and Laslo Djere in straight sets. However, he will be wary of his poor head-to-head record against the Serb, given he has only beaten the latter once in 10 meetings.

The Bulgarian beat Djokovic way back in 2013, and has since gone on to lose seven consecutive matches against the former World No. 1. But it is pertinent to note that the two have not faced each other since 2019.