“Handled this as well as he could have”: Roddick praises Djokovic after drunk altercation at Australian Open

Despite the clear discomfort of the 21-time Grand Slam champion, the Serb managed to beat Enzo Couacaud in 4 sets.

The former world No 1 Andy Roddick used his Twitter to express his support for Novak Djokovic reaction to an altercation with a drunk fan at the Australian Open. “Nole” had to face the constant heckling from a group of drunk spectators at the Rod Laver Arena. The Serb was constantly booed by a group of drunk spectators; however, they weren’t expelled from the stadium.

About it, “A-Rod” showed his support for the current World No. 5 on his social media: “Novak handled this as well as he could have. Was clear about explaining this issue, and calm when asking how ref was gonna help with a solution.”

It wasn’t an easy match for Novak, who went through difficult moments after losing the second set, added to the awkward moment with the hecklers at the stadium. At the fourth set, Djokovic approached the chair umpire to show his annoyance “the guy is drunk out of his mind. From the first point he’s been provoking, he’s not here to watch tennis. He just wants to get in my head.”

The claims didn’t end there, since Djokovic insisted that the spectators expelled from the stadium “What are you gonna do about it? You heard him at least ten times. I heard him 50 times.” However, Novak managed to remain calm throughout the match and won by a score of 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-0 to advance to the third round of the Australian Open.

His next challenge will be against Grigor Dimitrov, 27th seed in the first major of the year. Both player have played each other 10 times, with just one victorie for the 31 one years old Bulgarian, in Madrid 2013.