Watch: Novak Djokovic fumes at 'drunk' Where's Wally fan during Australian Open match

Novak Djokovic lost his cool at the Australian Open, when a rowdy "drunk" spectator dressed as Where's Wally repeatedly taunted him during his second-round win.

Alongside his injury woes during the match, nine-time champion Djokovic was forced to contend with relentless jeering from a member of the crowd who shouted out while he was serving.

The situation was made all the more ludicrous as this fan was dressed up as children's book character Where's Wally, who is famously supposed to be hard to pick out in a crowd.

Djokovic was two sets to one up against French qualifier Enzo Couacaud, and 2-0 ahead in the fourth set, when he finally lost his cool and pleaded with the umpire to do something about the situation.

“Can we get this guy out?" Djokovic said of the spectator's behaviour, approaching the umpire's chair. "The entire night. What are you going to do about it? Please answer me.

When the umpire said he did not know who the culprit was, Djokovic said: "You’re kidding me. You know who it is. The guy is drunk out of his mind. From the first point he's been provoking [me]. He’s not here to watch tennis. He just wants to get in my head. You’ve heard him at least 10 times. I’ve heard him 50 times. Why don’t you get the security guard and get him out of the stadium?"

Meanwhile the fan, who looked to be accompanied by three friends in matching fancy dress costumed, blew kisses at him from the crowd.

Soon after, a security guard appeared to speak with the group, and during the change of ends the quartet were escorted out of the Rod Laver Arena. When Djokovic stormed to a 4-0 lead, he roared defiantly up in the direction of the stands.

The moment was reminiscent of Nick Kyrgios's rant against a female spectator at Wimbledon last year, who he accused of being "drunk" and having "700 drinks" when implored the umpire to eject her.

Kyrgios later paid £20,000 to a children’s charity to settle the lawsuit Anna Palus, the woman in question, brought against him for making the remarks.

Djokovic's patience was tested by the crowd throughout the 6-2 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0 dogged win, with his serve motion routinely interrupted.

As is his way, Djokovic fought back, putting a finger to his ear to gee up the crowd at pivotal moments and even thanked one fan for telling fellow spectators to "shut up". "Thank you, at last," an exasperated Djokovic said of the moment of support.

At 5-5 in the second-set tiebreak, a crowd member shouted out in between his first and second serve, causing Djokovic to take a long pause and he double-faulted. It gave 191st-ranked Couacaud a set point which he duly took to force a physically flagging Djokovic to fight his way back into the match.

Couacaud effectively had a free hit in that second set, while at times 21-time major champion Djokovic looked ready to succumb to the left hamstring injury that had hampered his preparations for Melbourne.

Djokovic, 35, has been struggling with the problem since playing a tournament in Adelaide earlier this month, and last week abandoned a training session with Daniil Medvedev early due to the problem.

He has remained determined to compete in Melbourne, and said after his first-round win on Tuesday that he was managing the injury by prioritising rest and recovery.

But with Couacaud 5-4 up in the second set, Djokovic took an off-court medical timeout to have the existing heavy strapping on his hamstring re-taped. As he was walking back down the tunnel to return to the court, the Serbian was filmed taking scissors to the top of the tight strapping, and he hopped and winced after missing a forehand during the next point.

When he then lost the second set, things could have gone downhill, but he somehow rallied. He fought against a fading Couacaud, the raucous crowd and his ailing body to take the next two sets in an almost routine manner.

But Djokovic still appeared downbeat during the on-court victory interview, and made a fairly swift exit after signing some merchandise for fans. Speaking to Eurosport immediately after he made no attempt to downplay his injury problems, and said he "hoped" to recover in time to face 27th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the third round on Saturday.

“To be honest, it’s not good at all," he said of his hamstring. "But look I’ll take it day to day. It was better last match, the feeling, than tonight. That’s all I can say, now it’s up to God to help me and the physio. Let’s take it day to day. I hope I'll be able to recover for the next match."