Novak Djokovic set up a mouth-watering Australian Open quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz with a convincing victory over Jiri Lehecka.
Djokovic continued his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title with a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win against the Czech 24th seed.
He will face Alcaraz in the last eight after the Spaniard progressed when British number one Jack Draper retired with a hip injury earlier on Sunday.
Alcaraz has beaten Djokovic in the past two Wimbledon finals, but the Serb got the better of the 21-year-old to win gold at the Paris Olympics last summer – Djokovic’s self-proclaimed “biggest sporting achievement”.
The crowd booed Djokovic 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.
“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.”
On Monday, Jones said he thought the comments were “banter” and “humour”, but gave an on-air apology – one he said he had already offered to Djokovic’s team 48 hours earlier.
“I stand by that apology to Novak, if he felt any disrespect, which quite clearly he does.”
Channel 9 issued a public apology as well, saying “no harm was intended towards Novak or his fans”.
