Roger Federer is in the twilight of his career, and no one can deny that the glory and the success that this prodigy has experienced over his career. Since there is suspicion over when he would retire, fans want to see the most of him before he actually leaves the sport.
Federer is currently sitting at 99 career titles and was very nearly about to make it to 100,but a fiery Novak Djokovic came in his way during the semi-final of the Paris Masters.
In the 47th meeting between the greats, a stubborn Djokovic didn’t budge and stood between Federer and the finals. Novak eventually did edge over him after a three hour encounter and won by 7-6(6) 5-7 7-6(3).
However, despite the Serb’s prolific winning streak of 22 matches, the event that happened in the third-set created a controversy within the match.
At 4-4 in the third set, Djokovic got an opportunity for a second break point, but he couldn’t work past a brilliant shot by Federer. Djokovic immediately pointed out that Federer had touched the ball twice with his racket and the shot shouldn’t count. When the umpire decided against his plea, Novak got visibly disappointed and flung his racket to the ground. He then paused the game to go and change his damaged racket, during which he got a loud roar of boos from the audience.
Novak is quite animated on the field and does try to cheer the crowd up, but he really should have known better while playing against the crowd’s darling, Federer. The crowd wasn’t happy with the actions and even gave Djokovic a piece of their mind when he eventually won. Instead of cheering for the Serb, the arena again erupted with loud booing once the game finished in favor of Djokovic.
Federer downplayed the controversy later and accredited Novak for his great run and the spirited performance. Djokovic has since apologized and mentioned that he flung his racket out of frustration over the missed break points.
The ITF has also cleared doubts regarding Federer’s shot to deny the break point by mentioning that it was completely legal. The ball did touch the racket twice, but it happened in one movement. Had Federer done two specific and separate movements to play the ball twice, then it would have been considered illegal.
This is the second match in a row that Djokovic has flung and damaged his racket in frustration.
YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TehQctrglaA