Novak Djokovic's love-hate relationship with the Australian Open crowd continued on Friday when a heckler yelled out "get vaccinated" on match point against Tomas Martín Etcheverry.
The Serbian tennis icon was enemy No 1 among the Australian public back in 2022 when he famously arrived in Melbourne despite not being vaccinated before being detained and finally deported.
The outrage from the Australian public stemmed from the restrictions they had faced throughout the coronavirus pandemic themselves, only for Djokovic to originally be given a 'medical exemption' to play in the tennis tournament.
Djokovic has stuck to his principles since then, which also saw him miss the US Open that year and other ATP events Stateside due to his anti-vax status.
Novak Djokovic has dealt with hecklers this week
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While some of the general public now sympathise with the world No 1 for the way he was treated, a few continue to try and get underneath his skin.
He faced a barrage of abuse from the stands on his return to Melbourne Park last year on his way to a record 10th Australian Open title.
And that has continued in this year's tournament with Djokovic confronting a heckler during his second-round win over Alexei Popyrin.
Another rowdy spectator tested Djokovic's patience on Friday as he was about to wrap up his match against Etcheverry.
Just as he was about to serve on match point, a man in the crowd could be heard shouting "get vaccinated mate".
Djokovic took a moment to recompose himself but opted against confronting the spectator like the previous day.
Instead, Djokovic responded with an ace to close out the match against his Argentine opponent in straight sets.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has continually been asked about his view on vaccines as one of the more high-profile athletes to not have it.
Novak Djokovic confronted a spectator earlier this week
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Djokovic has admitted that he felt like a "villain of the world" at the height of the vaccine row of his own personal status.
Speaking after winning last year's US Open, Djokovic explained his stance and why he chose to stick to his principles.
"I was never anti-vax," Djokovic said.
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"I was always pro-freedom-to-choose. And that's something that we took really for granted.
"I didn't feel like a lot of people had a choice, really."
Djokovic now faces No 20 seed Adrian Mannarino after the Frenchman pulled off a big win over American Ben Shelton.
