Tennis fans convinced they’ve found cheat code to beat Novak Djokovic after spotting freak coincidence in past defeats

11 months ago 61

TENNIS fans are convinced they have found the cheat code to beat Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.

The world No1 is eyeing up his record-extending 11th crown at Melbourne Park.

Novak Djokovic is on a 32-match winning streak at the Australian Open[/caption]

Despite a series of bitter feuds with fans in every round so far, he has progressed relatively untroubled to the quarter-finals.

His latest victory, in round four over Adrian Mannarino, saw Djokovic extend his winning run at the Australian Open to a staggering 32 matches – having won the titles in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 and missing the 2022 tournament when he was deported.

Djokovic’s last defeat at his beloved tournament – where he has a secret 15-year love affair with a tree – was against South Korean Chung Hyeon.

Chung won 7-6 7-5 7-6 in round four in 2018.

That came 12 months after the then-No2 seeded Serbian’s shock second-round exit in five sets to Uzbekistani wildcard Denis Istomin.

Before that, Djokovic won the titles in 2016 and 2015 – with Stan Wawrinka prevailing in their epic 2014 quarter-final on January 21.

Weirdly, though, both Chung and Istomin wore glasses on the court.

Janko Tipsarevic is one of the only other men in recent memory to play tennis in specs.

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So the bizarre quirk means Djokovic has now not lost to a single player NOT in glasses at the Australian Open for a decade.

The tweet sharing the incredible stat went viral before Djokovic’s comfortable 6-0 6-0 6-3 thrashing of Frenchman and cult hero Mannarino.

And plenty of fans reckon the No20 seed missed a trick by not taking a trip to the opticians and picking up some spectacles for the contest.

One said: “Now I’m not saying Adrian Mannarino should find a pair of shades by tomorrow morning, but…”

Another wrote: “Mannarino will have an hour’s notice to buy some eyewear.”

And a third added: “Mannarino and his team know what to do.”

Adrian Mannarino jokes around after being on the end of a Novak Djokovic double-bagel

Sometimes the only thing you can do is laugh #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/hHf58Xp6SX

— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 21, 2024

Instead, it must have felt like Mannarino was playing in beer goggles as Djokovic raced to a 6-0 6-0 lead.

The leftie sat down on his chair after losing the second set and made circles with his fingers around his eyes – almost as if he knew he needed some glasses in order to turn his fortunes around.

When the French star finally got on the board, he received a standing ovation from the Rod Laver Arena crowd as he escaped the dreaded ‘triple bagel’.

But Djokovic clashed with the crowd again, sarcastically orchestrating them and blowing a kiss as the cheers turned to boos.

That came after an X-rated spat in round one, calling out a fan to “come and say it to my face” in round two and then being told to “get vaccinated mate” before serving an ace on match point in his third match.

Djokovic will take on Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals after the American No12 seed dumped 2023 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas out.

And don’t be surprised if Fritz comes out wearing glasses against the 24-time Grand Slam champion who he has failed to beat in all eight previous meetings.