Novak Djokovic’s Aus Open opponent had unusual message on racquet bag

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The beaten opponent of Novak Djokovic made an impression in their second round match at the Australian Open and so did his racquet bag. The nine-time champion took the opening set with ease at the Rod Laver Arena, only for Enzo Couacaud to level after a second set tie-break.

But almost inevitably, with the game on a knife-edge Djokovic then upped the ante, and limited the world No 190 to winning just two more games as he prevailed 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-0. The Serb will now face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the early hours of Saturday morning.

However, Couacaud can still reflect on a successful time down under, reaching the second round of a Slam for only the the second time in his career. The Frenchman reached the same stage at Roland Garros two years ago, but fell at the first hurdle in his Wimbledon and US Open debuts in 2022.

He made his mark with the fans at Albert Park though, just not because of the huge upset win he craved. Instead, the 27-year-old was lauded for a comical message that was written onto his racquet bag.

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The message read “By order of the Peaky Blinders,” a reference to the popular British series, based on a gangster family set in England in the 1900s. It was picked up by The Tennis Podcast, who tweeted an image of the bag on its official account.

“Enzo Couacaud is playing Novak Djokovic on Rod Laver Arena, and this is his racquet bag,” they wrote. And referring to the main characters, they added: “Not sure the Shelbys can help you now, Enzo.”

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The stunt was one of the more light-hearted matters to come from the clash, with crowd behaviour an issue throughout. Fourth seed Djokovic had already jokingly thanked someone who shouted out “shut up” when another member of the crowd disturbed his serve, but it continued just a few games later.

It led to the Serb demanding one fan be kicked out, arguing “I heard him 50 times.” The incident came amid Eurosport commentators Chris Bradnam and Tim Henman also lamenting spectators live on air.

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