Alejandro Davidovich Fokina calls out "ignorant drunks" as he confronts the crowd during his win over Reilly Opelka in the Australian Open second round.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina called out "ignorant drunks" at the Australian Open after he confronted the crowd during his five-set win over American Reilly Opelka.
Down 2-1 in the fourth set on Kia Arena, Davidovich Fokina stormed over to the front row, angrily shouting and waving his finger at a group of spectators.
The chair umpire then climbed down from his seat, instructed the 14th seed to walk away and spoke to the small section of fans.
"It can happen here, it can happen wherever in the world," Davidovich Fokina said about the crowd's behaviour.
"So there were four ignorant drunks that I can do nothing about. Nothing more."
The Spaniard passionately celebrated his 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 4-6 6-4 victory by yelling up to the sky before throwing his cap onto the court and shaking a clenched fist towards his team.
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Davidovich Fokina has not been the only player to criticise the crowd at this year's tournament.
During her victory over Britain's Emma Raducanu, Anastasia Potapova angrily shouted "come on" in the direction of a spectator after they called out in the middle of a point, with the umpire reminding them to be quiet while play is ongoing.
Spain's Jaume Munar also yelled in frustration when a fan started chanting right before he served against Dalibor Svrcina, who he beat in five sets in the first round.
There were issues between players and spectators last year in Melbourne, with Britain's Harriet Dart saying her second-round defeat was "like a football match" as she called for greater "respect" from fans.
American Danielle Collins, meanwhile, was heckled by a hostile crowd during her win over Australian Destanee Aiava, although she said she "loved" the atmosphere and blew kisses as she was being booed.
When Davidovich Fokina faced Felix Auger-Aliassime last year, their match was moved from court eight after the players complained about the noise coming from neighbouring courts.
Category: General Sports
