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'Would you like a cup of tea?': Novak Djokovic yells at umpire over crowd noise during Australian Open loss to Sinner
The incident happened in the fourth set of the Australian Open semifinal match after Sinner gained an early break and lead 3-1
Unlike in his loss against Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final last year, Novak Djokovic looked more composed, mentally, even as he delivered one of his most flat performances in a Grand Slam match on Friday in the Australian Open semifinal against Jannik Sinner. It is probably what helped him look for that late surge, taking the third set after going 2-0 down. But moments after Sinner regained control in the fourth with the early break, the Serb looked visibly frustrated before yelling at the chair umpire. He was left infuriated by the crowd noise.
The incident happened in the fourth set of the match after Sinner bounced back from being denied match point to gain a break and lead 3-1. As the 36-year-old got ready to serve in the fourth game of the set, there a sudden noise from the crowd, which caused a brief commotion. It wasn't the first time it happened during the fourth set and hence an irritated Djokovic pulled out of his serve routine to yell at the umpire for not asking the spectators to remain quiet.
Djokovic said: “You going to say something or are you just going to sit there and be quiet Would you like a cup of tea?”
Despite his fightback in the third set, as he won in the tiebreak, Djokovic's level dipped yet again as he failed to even gain one break point opportunity in the match. Sinner held after two deuces to go 4-1 up before serving it out from 15-30 to script one of the biggest wins in his career.
"I was looking forward to this match," said Sinner. "It's always nice to have this kind of player who you can learn from. I lost [to Djokovic] last year in the semis in Wimbledon, so I think I learned a lot from that. It's all a part of the process."
The heartbreaking loss subsequently ended defending champion Djokovic prized streak in Melbourne, where he won 33 straight matches since 2019, which included a run of four consecutive titles, as No. 4 seed Sinner pulled off a magnificent 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 victory to reaching his maiden Grand Slam final at the 2024 Australian Open.
