MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Novak Djokovic survived a spirited encounter with Bosnian-born American Amer Delic today in the Australian Open before crowd trouble flared outside.
The 21-year-old Serb lost a set for the first time in the tournament and had to fend off two set points in the fourth before beating Delic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Moments after Djokovic and Delic embraced at the net, smiled and waved to all parts of the crowd in Rod Laver Arena, screams, water bottles and plastic chairs were hurled back and forth between the Bosnian and Serb fans who had been watching the match on a big TV screen next to the arena.
One Bosnian girl was hit in the head and stumbled from the area on the arms of friends as police and security staff rushed to separate the rivals. The scuffle was over within two minutes, and police took many of the participants to another area for questioning.
“They started it. They threw the first chair and knocked our girl down and kept throwing things at her,” one Bosnian man said before he was taken away by a police officer.
There was no animosity on court.
“Of course, I have a big respect for Amer,” Djokovic said, to loud cheers from the crowd. “He absolutely deserves your applause and even more.
“He has one of the biggest serves on tour. It was very difficult for me to read.”
No. 127th-ranked Delic got into the draw as a lucky loser from qualifying when Nicolas Kiefer withdrew with an injured ankle. He rallied to win two five-set matches to make the third round, his best run at a major.
Djokovic will play the winner of today’s match between American Mardy Fish and 2006 runner-up Marcos Baghdatis.
No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3, 7-5, the only remaining Argentine man still in the draw of the nine who started the tournament. The 20-year-old del Potro won the Auckland title coming into Melbourne and is on a seven-match winning streak.
No. 19 Marin Cilic of Croatia had an upset 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 11 David Ferrer of Spain.
On the women’s side, Olympic silver medalist Dinara Safina reached the fourth round for the first time in seven trips to the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 25 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
Fellow Russians Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova are also in the fourth round.
No. 7 Zvonareva beat Italy’s Sara Errani 6-4, 6-1 and No. 10 Petrova advanced when Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva retired with back pain after losing the first set 6-1.
In the biggest upset so far at the season’s first major, sixth-seeded Venus Williams lost 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday night in the second round to Carla Suarez Navarro, a Spaniard ranked No. 46.
