23 January 2023 , 23:21
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Novak Djokovic has been accused of breaking a rule at the Australian Open after a suspicious bottle - which appeared to have a note attached - was passed to him mid-match.
The World No.5 was playing against Enzo Couacaud in the second round in Melbourne and a video of the incident has emerged on social media. The clip shows a member of Djokovic's team suspiciously passing a bottle with a piece of paper attached to a tournament official, who then handed it to the Serb during a break in play.
The nine-time Australian Open winner is seen carefully reading the paper from the bottle.
Tournament rules state players can only communicate verbally with their team when they are on the same side of the court, while signals must be used if they are on opposite sides.
Fans were quick to accuse the Serbian of breaking the communication rules after watching the video clip. @Burnwine posted on Tiktok: "Clearly a coaching note."
Novak Djokovic won Australian Open despite playing with major hamstring tear
A member of Novak Djokovic's coaching staff passed the Serbian a bottle which appeared to have a note attached
A member of Novak Djokovic's coaching staff passed a bottle to an official who gave it to their playerThis comes after Djokovic's team were filmed making a mysterious drink during his semi-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Paris Masters in November.
Djokovic's physio Ulises Badio was videoed mixing the star a drink in the stands, with members of his team appearing to shield him. Tennis fans were quick to refer back to the previous incident when watching the Australian Open clip which has gone viral online.
Posting on Twitter @shaposbh said: "Why is it that when something 'shady' happens it's always Novak's team? They need to learn not to look so suspicious all the time." That view was supported by @simmyxv who added: "Why is it that whenever there is something sneaky going on Novak's always at the centre of it?"
Novak Djokovic appeared to read a note which was attached to a suspicious white bottle passed to himDjokovic is set to play fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the quarter-final stage of the tournament on Wednesday. However, some fans want tournament officials to take action over the video which has surfaced online.
@JordanHolt23 posted on Twitter: "Want him out the tournament, like legit what the actual." Another fan who had a similar view was @AnimalPower13 who said: "I don’t care if it is illegal or not, but this shouldn’t be allowed at all."