"Sorry mate, I have a wife" - Novak Djokovic bluntly shuts down pestering heckler at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic delivered a witty response to a pestering heckler after his resounding third-round win at the 2025 Australian Open. The Serb left Andrea Petkovic and everyone else at the Rod Laver Arena in splits.

Djokovic hadn't played his finest tennis in the opening two rounds against Nishesh Basavareddy and Jaime Faria but managed to get the job done. Many predicted that he would struggle against 26th seed Thomas Machac, who was playing his best tennis at the Melbourne Major. However, the 37-year-old came out guns blazing and decimated Machac 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

The Serb was dealing with a heckler during the match. The heckler also caused some disturbance during the World No. 7's on-court interview with Andrea Petkovic. However, Djokovic shut him down with a blunt response poking fun at his drunkenness.

“Sorry mate. I have a wife. We can have a drink though. Maybe you’ve had a few already. Yeah. Him and I were going back and forth for quite a while, actually.

Petkovic jokingly asked the Serb,

"Should we set up a date?"

Djokovic then continued he and the heckler could reflect on the exchanges they had during the match. However, both he and Petkovic hilariously forgot what they were initially talking about.

"Listen, I'm happy to have a drink with him, now that the match is over. I think we can reflect nicely on what we've said to each other during the match, so...Um, what were we talking about?"

"I don't know. (laughs) I really don't know," Petkovic responded.

The former World No. 1 was seemingly annoyed by some people in the crowd and also celebrated his win in a fiery manner.

"This is definitely the best match I've played in the tournament" - Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic celebrating his win- Source: Getty

Novak Djokovic was asked about his thoughts on his phenomenal performance to which the Serb said he was pleasantly surprised to get the better of Tomas Machac in straight sets.

"I'm very hot-headed right now. So, I'm going to try to give a very calm and diplomatic answer to that, but I think I played really well, honestly. I'm very happy with my game. I was slightly surprised, to be honest, with the result, to beat him straight sets."

Though he admitted that there are always areas to improve, the 24-time Grand Slam champion called his performance the best of his campaign so far.

"There's always something to improve, always something to work on, but this is definitely the best match I've played in the tournament."

The Serb will continue his goal to win his 25th Major at the Happy Slam against rising star Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round. This will be the second meeting between the two men with the 37-year-old leading 1-0.