World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was unhappy at a heckler who unsettled him during his second-round US Open match against Tallon Griekspoor. Djokovic easily won his match against the 25-year-old Dutchman but was annoyed at the disturbance caused by the fan, which resulted in him losing at least one point during the game.
Speaking after the victory, Djokovic complained that the fan heckled as he was about to play a shot, which disturbed his rhythm.
“That guy, for some reason, was calling, raising the sound and kind of screaming just before I would hit my smash, which was a big point. Before that, he would do it a few times. After that, again. That wasn’t nice. That’s all,” Djokovic said.
The Serbian believes that fan participation is needed in tennis, but not at the cost of the concentration of the players on the court.
“I don’t mind the noise. Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s important for the entertainment, for the crowds, the music. I get it. But if someone does it over and over again… he knows why he’s doing it. The guy that I pointed out, he knew exactly what he was doing, and that’s all,” said the World No. 1.
Djokovic, though, was pleased with his performance in the second-round match against Griekspoor. He cruised to the third round of the US Open with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win on Thursday night. The 34-year-old felt that he had a better match against Griekspoor than the first-round match against teenager Holger Rune.
Djokovic has been in spectacular form this year, winning all three Grand Slams so far – Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. He will be looking to emulate Rod Laver, who is the only men’s singles star to have won all four Grand Slams in the same calendar year. Laver did it twice in his career, first in 1962 and then in 1969.
The last player to win all four Grand Slams in a calendar year in singles tennis is Steffi Graf, who achieved that feat in 1988.
Djokovic’s next opponent at the US Open is Kei Nishikori, who battled hard to defeat Mackenzie McDonald in the second round. In 19 head-to-head matches between the two, Djokovic has come out victorious on 17 occasions. They faced each other at the 2018 US Open semi-finals where Djokovic cruised to a three-set win. Their last match against each other came earlier this year at the Olympics, where Djokovic lost just two games in his two-set win against the Japanese.
