Novak Djokovic shuts down ‘conflict’ fears with Aus Open under scrutiny for crowd trouble’ Novak Djokovic has had to deal with several cases of crowd trouble throughout the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic shuts down ‘conflict’ fears with Aus Open under scrutiny for crowd trouble
Novak Djokovic doesn’t expect any crowd disturbances in what is expected to be a noisy Rod Laver Arena for his Australian Open final against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday. Tsitsipas and Djokovic have been the standout performers in the men’s draw and go face-to-face for the first Grand Slam of the year with the No 1 ranking also up for grabs.
Both players have had huge support from their respective fans throughout the tournament. The Serbians have been extremely vocal for every match Djokovic has played while Tsitsipas has become somewhat of an adopted Aussie among the huge Greek community in the country.
It sets up a possible cauldron of noise for Sunday’s final inside Rod Laver Arena with the tournament under scrutiny for being unable to control the behaviour of some unruly spectators. Djokovic has had a number of outbursts already in the tournament, urging some hecklers to shut up with a few incidents where spectators were kicked out of the arena.
It’s been a blot on an otherwise entertaining Grand Slam with players voicing their displeasure at the disturbances. But Djokovic isn’t concerning himself with any thoughts about the possibility of more disruptions from overzealous spectators on Sunday.
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“Well, I hope that all the people who are going to come to the finals are going to be there for tennis and sport because that’s what we all wish for,” he said. “We all wish that players, fans focus on tennis, celebrate this beautiful sport, marvel at one of the most special matches throughout the year, which is a Slam final.
Djokovic will be hoping he can repeat his success over Tsitsipas from the 2021 French Open, when he came back from two sets down. “I know what’s expected of me. I’ve been in this situation so many times before in my career and I think experience helps also,” he added.
“But obviously on the court, moment to moment, point to point, it’s a great battle, first of all with yourself and then of course the opponent, so you don’t have much time between the points. So, some long rallies — you could really feel them. We both had heavy legs, I think, in the first set.
“I was really fortunate to kind of hold my nerves towards the end of the first set. I’m just really pleased to get through another final.”
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