Novak Djokovic refused to participate in an on-court interview at the Australian Open following his fourth-round win.
Ten-time Australian Open champion Djokovic was in fine form on Sunday, defeating Czech star Jiri Lehecka in straight sets to reach his 15th quarter-final in Melbourne – equalling Roger Federer’s haul.
He pounced late in the first set and then early in the second, with just two breaks of serve needed to move two sets up against the 24th seed.
The Serbian suffered a minor scare when he dropped an early break lead in the third set, though he eventually sealed a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) victory in two hours and 39 minutes.
However, Djokovic then did not speak to two-time Australian Open and former world No 1 Jim Courier in an on-court interview after the match.
The 10-time champion quickly took the microphone and relayed a simple message before leaving court, still taking time to sign autographs before exiting the Rod Laver Arena.
He said: “Thank you very much for being here tonight. I appreciate your presence and support – and I’ll see you next round.”
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There were crowd disturbances during the match, with Djokovic complaining to umpire Mohamed Lahyani at points throughout the match.
Djokovic has since confirmed that this was in protest against comments made about him and Serbian fans on Channel 9 in Australia.
-But, speaking on Eurosport afterwards, four-time major winner Courier revealed that Djokovic had not initially confirmed a reason for his refusal.
“Maybe we’ll learn more about it afterwards in the press conference,” said the American. “He just didn’t feel like having a chat with us.
“I had no idea that was going to happen. There’s no obligation for these players to do that [an interview]right? It’s an opportunity for them to talk to the people in the stadium, and of course the fans around the world that might be watching. A player can opt out.
“Sometimes if a player is injured or cramping then they might opt out, but I don’t think it was that. I hope we will get a little more colour on it at some point.”
Despite a lack of an on-court interview, Djokovic did speak to Eurosport’s Barbara Schett off-court after beating Lehecka.
The former world No 7 believed the Serbian had decided not to speak due to crowd issues during the match.
“I thought also in the last match [against Tomas Machac]some of the spectators, the tennis fans, got under his skin a little bit,” added Schett.
“The same happened today and I think he thought: ‘I’ve had enough – I’m going to skip it today.’”
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