Novak Djokovic on Conflict with Drunk Fan - 2024

I'd like to ask if you need to compare the sensations in the court between the first match and this one. That sensations are better, are worse, are something topic of your game that you feel that maybe you improve? I haven't been playing or feeling at my best the last week or so. It's frustrating at times with the kind of level of tennis that I'm playing on the court and some uncharacteristic mistakes that I make. But at the same time, that's sport. You can't always feel your best or play your best and you have to find a way to win, which I did against the two, I think, players who possess great quality, who came out on the court believing that they can win. They were both confident, they were both hitting the ball very well, tactically had a lot of clarity what they need to do against me and it was working well. Again, another very close match that was decided in that third set like the first round. He had a three-set point, he had a sitting forehand that he missed in 30-40. Then I played a solid tie-break. He dropped his level a bit and I felt it and momentum shifted to my side. I broke his serve and held my serve till the end of the match. Can I be satisfied? I can be satisfied with the win with my tennis, not so much. But as I said, it's normal to go through these kind of periods or circumstances and you just have to embrace it, try to accept what it is and build from there. As the tournament progresses, hopefully things will go in a positive direction in terms of how I feel in play. What did the person in the crowd say to you that made you respond as you did? You don't want to know. There were a lot of things that were being told to me on the court, particularly from that corner and the same side, the other corner. I was tolerating it for most of the match but at one point I had enough and I asked him whether he wants to come down and tell it to my face. When you confront somebody, unfortunately for him, he didn't have the courage to come down. That's what I was asking him. If you have courage, if you're such a tough man, tough guy, come down and tell it to my face. Let's have a discussion about it. He was apologising from far away and that's all it is. You looked like you were fired up after that moment and you really went on a roll from there. Maybe that was needed. I don't know. I don't want to be in those types of situations. I was flat emotionally and game-wise I was quite flat for some part of the match. End of second set, most of the third set. Maybe that was needed for me to be shaken up a bit and start to find the kind of intensity on the court that I needed to have all match. You will next face Echeverry. You beat twice him. Have you seen him playing here? Can you give us some words? I didn't see him playing but he beat Monfils and Murray quite comfortably both matches. I will have to do my homework and see how he played those matches. Results are really impressive. He's obviously playing tennis of his life on the hard court. Thomas is a great guy. I get along very well with him and his team. On the court we're going to be opponents. We both want to win. I'm going to try to learn from the previous matches we had. I think his level of tennis on the hard court particularly has improved a lot. Results are testament to that. I have to be very prepared and ready for that. You've won so many of your matches. You've played so many times on Rod Laver. You've had some epic moments there. Won 10 Grand Slam titles on it. Does it upset you when there's idiots in the crowd who just go too far like that? It does. I'm not going to sit and say it's all good. It's not good. Of course it upsets me. I'm frustrated. I don't want to be experiencing that but I have to accept it as it is. Sometimes I don't tolerate when somebody crosses the line. That's it. That's what happens. People have a few drinks late at night as well. That probably also has an effect on how they feel and behave. That's okay. People pay tickets to come and watch us. They want to see the show. They want to have fun. They're all allowed to do that. There's no issue. I never asked anyone to leave the stadium. I never asked the chair umpire to take somebody out. I wouldn't do that because he paid his ticket and he has the right to be there and say what he wants to say and behave how he wants to behave. But if somebody crosses the line then I'm going to take it to him as I did to this guy and ask him if he wants to come closer and tell me what he wants to tell me. That's all it is. He was not really keen on coming down. That's what it was. You talked about going to the botanical gardens between matches. We heard from locals that they think there's a particular tree near the gardens there that you like to visit to meditate. Is that true and can you tell us a bit more about that? It is true. There's one particular tree that I've been having a special relationship with in the last 15 years. I love every corner of botanical gardens. I think that's an incredible treasure for Melbourne to have such a beautiful park and nature in the middle of the city. But that particular tree, I cannot reveal which one. I'm trying to keep it discreet for myself when I'm there to have my own time. I just like to connect, ground myself and connect with that old friend.