"Not necessary, just ridiculousness!" - Novak Djokovic earns Nick Kyrgios' support after receiving time violation in Australian Open 3R

Eurosport commentator Nick Kyrgios came to Novak Djokovic's defense earlier today, slamming the umpire for giving the Serb a time violation during his 2024 Australian Open third-round clash.

Djokovic came into his encounter on the back of a tough couple of opening-round matches against Dino Prizmic and Alexei Popyrin, both of which went to four sets. He was quick to get off the blocks against Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Friday, however, sailing through the opening two sets with relative ease.

It was during the third game of the third set when the drama unfolded. Serving at 30-15, Djokovic was given a time violation by the chair umpire. The crowd immediately voiced their displeasure, and Nick Kyrgios echoed their sentiments while commentating in the booth for Eurosport.

He described the warning as "unnecessary" and also had a go at the umpire, claiming that decisions like this were the outcome of boredom.

"Not necessary, ridiculous!" Kyrgios said while on commentary.

"Just ridiculousness! It’s like they get bored and they just want to say something instead of the score, like ridiculous," he went on.

He went on to claim that incidents like these interrupt the flow of a match.

"It completely ruins the flow of the match," Kyrgios said. "It just gave him [Djokovic] more time to compose himself."

The violation did not impact the defending champion as he went on to close out the match 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(2) and keep his quest for a record-extending 11th Australian Open title alive.

Novak Djokovic to face off against Adrian Mannarino in Round 4 at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates match point

With the win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Novak Djokovic has set up a fourth-round clash against 20th seed Adrian Mannarino of France at the 2024 Australian Open. Mannarino shocked No. 16 seed Ben Shelton in the third round, clawing back from 2-sets-to-1 down to win in a five-set epic.

Speaking at his press conference afterward, Novak Djokovic admitted that he hasn't been playing at his best in Melbourne this week. At the same time, however, he considered it "positive" that he had shown signs of improvement when compared to the first two rounds.

"I played better than I did in the first two rounds, so that's a positive change, I guess. Starting to feel better game-wise and physically, as well. It's positive signs. I still haven't been playing at my best," Djokovic said.