The umpire was forced to intervene as Novak Djokovic grew frustrated during his fourth-round match against Jiri Lehecka on Sunday.
The 10-time Australian Open champion took the first two sets with ease but Lehecka stepped it up in the third, making it a closer contest.
The fans started to side with the Czech star, with some throwing Djokovic off his game. The Serb had enough when someone called out as he was trying to serve and the official had to give the crowd a telling-off.
Djokovic and Lehecka were contesting the only singles match in the night session on Rod Laver Arena. When the No. 24 seed found another level in set three, the fans were behind him.
With Djokovic serving at 3-4, some spectators started to call out while he was trying to serve and he quickly became agigated.
“Djokovic has just got to keep his concentration here. It’s almost as if there are a few in the crowd that are trying to get under his skin,” Tim Henman said on commentary.
The 37-year-old tried to brush it off but it continued. As he started his service motion at 30-15, a couple of screams interrupted him and he shook his head.
Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani stepped in. “Please show your support but don’t disturb the players please, for both players,” he told the packed crowd, receiving cheers in return.
While it was tough for Djokovic to take, co-commentator Chris Bradnam suggested that it wasn’t personal. “Just one singles match in this evening session and the crowd want their money’s worth,” he said.
-“I think they want more so they’re on the side of the underdog here. It’s not necessarily against Novak, anything they can do to give the underdog a bit of an advantage, they might.”
Djokovic continued as normal but there was more trouble when he served to stay in the set at 4-5. A spectator shouted when he tried to serve again and the world No. 7 ended the point with an error, waving his arms in disbelief.
Henman added: “Another noise from the crowd just as Djokovic was serving.”
The Serb approached Lahyani when there was more interruption after the next point, asking him to step in again. But the umpire believed that the latest noise was an untimely coincidence.
“I don’t think someone did it on purpose,” he explained as the commentators agreed.
Djokovic took the set to a tiebreak, touching his ear after reeling off winners to get the crowd going. And he sealed a 6-3 6-4 7-6(4) victory to reach the quarter-finals.
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