Djokovic Sets Up Tantalising Australian Open Final Before Final Against Alcaraz

Share:

Novak Djokovic has set up a mouth-watering ‘final before the final’ against Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open quarter-final after breezing to a straight-set win over Jiri Lehecka on Sunday.

Djokovic will face Alcaraz in the last eight after the Spaniard progressed when British number one and 15th seed, Jack Draper, retired with a hip injury earlier on Sunday.

And Djokovic joined his younger Spanish rival in the last eight with a 6-3 6-4 7-6 win against the Czech 24th seed in Melbourne.

While Alcaraz has beaten Djokovic in the past two Wimbledon finals, Djokovic came out victorious against the 21-year-old at the 2024 Olympic Games final in Paris.

Djokovic was booed by the crowd as Lehecka threatened to force a fourth set, and the 11-time Australian Open champion was quick to leave Rod Laver Arena after his victory.

“Thank you very much for being here tonight. I appreciate your support and I will see you in the next round,” the 37-year-old said.

Speaking in a news conference afterwards, Djokovic clarified his reasons for swerving the usual on-court interview with four-time major winner Jim Courier.

He referred to the actions of Channel 9 newsreader Tony Jones, who shouted “Novak, he’s overrated, Novak’s a has-been, Novak kick him out” towards Djokovic fans while live on camera on Friday.

“A couple days ago the famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster Channel 9 here in Australia made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me,” Djokovic said.

“And since then, he chose not to issue any public apology. Neither did Channel 9.

“So since they’re official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel 9. I have nothing against Jim Courier or the Australian public. It was a very awkward situation for me.”

Share:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

join our community

Join our community at SportsDey and get the best sports content delivered straight to you.