Novak Djokovic propped up his left shoe on a courtside sign so he could stretch out his bothersome hamstring. He grimaced while flexing the muscle after one point, hopped on his right leg to keep weight off the left after another. He took a medical timeout while a trainer re-taped him during the second set — which Djokovic would go on to drop.
As if he needed another distraction, Djokovic was flustered enough by a heckler that he asked chair umpire Fergus Murphy to have the spectator removed from Rod Laver Arena, saying: “The guy’s drunk out of his mind. ... He’s been provoking. He just wants to get in my head.”Here’s what did not happen Thursday evening at the Australian Open: Djokovic did not lose his way entirely and, most importantly, he did not lose in the second round, which is what happened to both No.
This did not shape up as a contest of much intrigue, given that the fourth-seeded Djokovic has done all that he has done, while Couacaud entered with a career mark of 2-5. And whatever Couacaud’s chances were beforehand seemed to dim just four games in, when he turned his right ankle and required a visit from a trainer.“You just have to deal with it. One of those circumstances and situations where things are maybe not going perfectly your way,” Djokovic said. “But that’s sport.
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