THE woman who "snatched" Novak Djokovic's shirt from a teenage tennis fan auctioned it for charity because she was "abused and threatened," her upset husband says.

Yael Rothschild put the shirt up for auction on 3AW this morning following a backlash after footage of her allegedly snatching it from Melissa Cook, 14, went viral online.

Ms Cook’s mother bought the shirt for $5500 after the teenager tearfully told the Herald Sun she had wanted to add it to her “Novak Wall” in her bedroom.

Raymond Rothschild said this morning he was disappointed at the abuse his wife Yael had received since footage of the incident spread.

"My wife has been vilified in the social media and by some traditional media as a result of misunderstanding over the shirt of Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic,” he said.

"Our home address has been broadcast on Facebook and this has led to personal abuse and even threats.”

Mr Rothschild said that before Djokovic threw his shirt into the crowd in celebration his wife had shouted to the World Number 1, “can I have it for my daughter?”.

Money raised from the auction will go to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation.

“Yael auctions shirt on @3AW693 and Melissa's mum buys for $5.5K,” 3AW tweeted after it was sold on the Neil Mitchell program.

Earlier this week, Ms Rothschild angrily denied snatching the shirt, while Melissa declared the sweaty souvenir was hers for the keeping.

Ms Rothschild said she was hurt, and her three daughters very upset, by any suggestion the apparel she grabbed had been taken from Melissa.

Melissa had appealed for the return of a top that was among garments the celebrating champion tossed into the centre court crowd.

She claimed a woman in the crowd had snatched it from her.

"When the shirt was thrown, there would have been 20 excited people, all with their hands out," she said.

"After (it had been) thrown, there would have been 19 disappointed people.

"Such is life. I am not sure how you can snatch out of the hands (of) someone sitting three seats away from you with a barrier between the seating," she said.

Djokovic used several shirts during the final.



Mrs Rothschild said she had not seen Melissa cry after missing a shirt.

She said she thought Melissa had caught other items of clothing tossed by the champion into the crowd after Sunday night's epic final.

"She was seen holding his sweat band, his towel and his shoe - not a bad night's winnings."

Melissa denied this, saying she had taken along items that had been caught by relatives during the 2011 Open.

"And the towel she saw me with wasn't even Djokovic's - it was given to me by an official," Melissa said.

Mrs Rothschild said she was a regular in seats close to centre court.

"Djokovic was so gracious to all his fans that he stayed back for a very long time, putting his autograph to the souvenirs of literally hundreds patiently waiting courtside after the match and formalities, T-shirt included," she said.

"And I'm keeping it. I'm a huge fan."

Originally published as Shirt 'snatcher' abused - husband