Extraordinary moment Novak Djokovic responds to heckler during interview at Australian Open: 'Sorry mate, I have a wife'

Novak Djokovic interacted with a heckler in an extraordinary moment in the aftermath of his victory in the third round of the Australian Open. 
The Serb, the current world No. 7, had just beaten Tomas Machac 6-1 6-4 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena, and had been receiving shouts from crowd members throughout the match, which was visibly starting to unnerve him. 
The 24-time Grand Slam champion, who is bidding for an 11th title in Melbourne, blew kisses in the direction of what seemed to be the primary heckler down at the far end of Rod Laver Arena as soon as he had closed out the match, converting his second of three match points to progress into the last 16. 

He will face Jiri Lehecka, the Czech 24th seed, next. 

In his on-court interview afterwards, Djokovic said that he was "very hotheaded right now", but he showed his sense of humour when the heckler shouted out again as he gave his assessment of his performance. 
"I’m very hotheaded right now," Djokovic said. 

"I’m going to try and give a calm and diplomatic answer. I was trying to catch my breath [in the second set]. I’m not 19 anymore. I’m 19 times two, almost. You go through different stages in a match."

It was at that moment that the spectator blurted out, with Djokovic responding: "Sorry, mate, I have a wife", which brought a cacophony of laughter around Rod Laver Arena. 

"We can have a drink, though," Djokovic playfully continued. 

"Maybe you’ve had a few already. Him and I were going back and forth for quite a while, actually. I’m happy to have a drink with him now that the match is over.

"I think we can reflect nicely on what we’ve said to each other during the match."

The 10-time Australian Open winner tried to turn his attention back to his analysis of the match, but he had lost his train of thought.

"What were we talking about…?" he asked, before being prompted that he was discussing his physical state during the second set, where it appeared that he was struggling. 

"One drink will solve everything physically."

Sitting courtside, Eurosport’s Laura Robson said that the heckling was "an issue for both players", but that Djokovic was getting a "peppering". 

"It was more than a few [people shouting in the crowd]," she said.

"It started as people calling balls out in the middle of the rally, or making noise. It was an issue for both players. Novak definitely had a few people in the front row down at the far end of the court who seemed to be peppering him a bit. It was hard to pick up what was said, but it definitely frustrated him a little. That’s fair to say."

She also noted that she had enjoyed the conversations between Djokovic and his new coach, Andy Murray, and the route of translation that both had to overcome to properly get their messages across to each other. 

"He was chatting away to the box, and I find that dynamic hilarious because he’s saying it in Serbian, and Andy leans forward for the translation. Equally, when Andy’s trying to say something about where to serve, he leans forward and it gets translated and then it gets to Novak," Robson explained. 

"It looks really fun to watch at the moment. For sure, it was his best match of the tournament, and he’s got to be happy with that. The level was ridiculous, watching it courtside."

Before he was interrupted, Djokovic spoke of his "surprise" that he had managed to come through Machac in straight sets.

"I think I played really well," he said.

"I’m very happy with my game. I was slightly surprised with the result; to beat him in straight sets. He was a break up in the second. I struggled physically there. I just somehow managed to turn things around, hold my serve when I needed to. A couple of points really decided that second set which could have gone his way.

"Maybe the outcome would have been different, but overall, I think in the third, I felt fresh, moved really well. Very pleased with my game.

"There is always something to improve, to work on, but this is certainly the best match I’ve played in the tournament."

Eurosport expert Mats Wilander thought that the Serbian had entered "lockdown mode" to become hyper-focused when the hostility grew.

"He was incredibly focused," Wilander said.

"He was serving unbelievably. He was basically in ‘lockdown mode’. In the first set, it was really close. The games were really close, and I thought this might be a problem, but he won the big points, and this is as good as I’ve seen him for quite a while now."

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