CHEERS TO JEERS
Fans thrown out mid-match as Melbourne locks down:
NOVAK DJOKOVIC struggled to stay in the Australian Open as angry fans were kicked out to ensure they were home for the midnight curfew.
The world No1 then revealed that his title defence could be over because of the side strain he suffered in his rollercoaster five-set win over Taylor Fritz.
A fresh lockdown in Victoria over fears of a new wave of the British strain of Covid-19 will see the Grand Slam event played behind closed doors for at least the next five days.
Fans were allowed into Melbourne Park yesterday. But in extraordinary scenes, play in the Djokovic match was suspended as booing spectators were ejected at 11.32pm local time.
The 33-year-old suffered the injury during the third set and feared that he would have to retire.
He lost the next two sets but battled back – helped by on-court treatment, painkillers and the eight-minute crowd delay – to win 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, victory scream empty arena.
The eight-time champion, who asked for help to carry his bag off court, said: “This is definitely one of the most special wins in my life.
“It’s a huge relief to pull this one through in these kind of conditions I 6-2. His emotional echoed around the find myself in. At the beginning of the third set when I got my first medical time-out, I was debating really strongly in my head to retire the match after two games because I couldn’t move. I couldn’t rotate, I couldn’t return.
“The only thing I could do was serve and that is what got me out of trouble. I had huge pain – I took the highest dose of anti-inflammatories possible. I know it’s a tear, definitely, of the muscle. So I don’t know if I’ll manage to recover from that in less than two days.
“I don’t know if I’m going to out on to the court or not.
“I don’t have a great experience with tears in terms of continuing in the tournament, so that’s something that is in the clouds for me at the moment whether I am going to step out in the court in two days.
“Hopefully, God able to play.
But No27 seed Fritz said: “He was serving unbelievably in the fifth set. Let’s be honest, he looked fine in the fifth.”
World No2 Rafa Nadal, who faces British No3 Cameron Norrie in the last match in the empty Rod Laver Arena today, is nursing a back injury as he seeks a 21st singles Grand Slam title.
All schools and universities are now closed in Melbourne but tennis players have been classed as “essential workers”.
Serena Williams, who beat Anastasia Potapova 7-6, 6-2, said: “It’s going to be a rough few days for everyone. But we’ll hopefully get through it.”
Elsewhere, Andy Murray is through to the semi-finals of the Biella Challenger in Italy after beating Slovenian Blaz Rola 6-4, 7-6. willing,
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