On Sunday, Novak Djokovic took one step closer to accomplish his dream of winning 25 Major titles. In the fourth round of the ‘Happy Slam’, the 10-time Australian Open king defeated Czechia’s Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4). The Serbian is now into the QF round of the first Major of the season down under. Undoubtedly, the tennis GOAT was happy upon clearing this encounter. But his happiness doubled when he got to meet his first fan after 20 years!

Djoker was talking to Eurosport’s Barbara Schett on his performance in the match when she surprised him with a delightful news. She informed him about his oldest fan, Janola Stoika. He had come to attend his fourth round encounter at the Rod Laver Arena. In fact, Djokovic had arranged the match tickets for him and his wife. Apparently, Stoika met the Serbian when he was just a teenager, in 2005, and told him that he would win many Grand Slam titles. “Twenty years ago, I met Novak Djokovic when he was qualifying for the Australian Open,” Stoika told Eurosport on Sunday.

Stoika was the one who advised him to get Marian Vajda as his coach. He was confident that the former Slovakian ATP pro would guide him to multiple Major titles and the No.1 spot. Djokovic agreed and brought Vajda to his team in 2006 and the rest is history. Under his tutelage, he went on to clinch 20 of his 24 Grand Slam trophies. Their partnership ended in 2017. But they reunited in 2018 before parting ways in 2022. Being absolutely thrilled to meet his first and oldest fan after so long, Djokovic thanked him. “It is amazing to see them after all these years, thank you very much for your support,” said Djokovic. To this, the fan said, “I told you I’m going to find you and contact you.”

After having a fun chit-chat, Stoika gave him a T-shirt on which a photo could be spotted. It showed a young Djokovic with Stoika from 20 years ago. Djokovic happily wore it as well. It was truly a memorable reunion for both the fan and the former World No.1.

Prior to this moment, however, Djokovic was involved in a tough situation after wrapping up his fourth round battle. The 24-time Major winner declined to give the on-court interview. It’s a common practice for winning players after every match. But why did he do that? Well, now we have an answer!

Novak Djokovic reveals why he refused to give the on-court interview after his fourth round victory

For the unversed, Channel 9’s journalist Tony Jones made some distasteful comments on Novak Djokovic and his fans last week. During a live broadcast he said, “Welcome back to Melbourne Park, where you can see the Novak Djokovic fans, they’re in full voice. The chants are quite extraordinary,” but then added, “Novak, he’s overrated” and “Novak’s a has-been. Novak, kick him out,” as reported by ABC.net on January 19. Giving his concluding remarks, he said, “Boy, I’m glad they can’t hear me. Anyway, let’s get onto the tennis.”

Well, it seems the 37-year-old did notice his comments on social media. Clearly, he was upset. As a result, the Serbian chose to protest by not doing the on-court interview. He made it evident during the press conference. Explaining his decision, he said, “I’d like to just clarify the reason why it ws not conducted on the court … a couple of days ago the famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster Nine here in Australia made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me.”

Continuing further, he added, “And since then he chose not to issue any public apology, neither did Nine. Since they’re official broadcasters I chose not to give interviews for Channel Nine.”

It will be intriguing to see if this ongoing controversy will aggravate in the coming days. Will Tony Jones eventually apologize to Djokovic? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.