Novak Djokovic has been blasted again for his controversial behavior on the court after failing to win a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics. The Serbian star suffered a defeat to little-known Pablo Carreno Busta, leaving many talking over his inability to accept loss gracefully.
The world No 1 threw his racket into the stands, prompting concerns from people over the globe, as the racket closely missed the few spectators. Djokovic then pulled out of the mixed doubles bronze medal match with Nina Stojanovic over concerns that he was mentally and physically exhausted.
Former British No 1 Annabel Croft was unimpressed by the Serb’s antics and believed he wasn’t setting a good impression. “It was an interesting scenario in that final set,” declared Eurosport and Discovery+ tennis expert Croft.
“He missed a volley, he’s down a break already and the frustration just boiled over. He smashed his racket up against the net post, gets a warning. He does a good job of completely annihilating that racquet! It’s almost splintered! Then chucks the racket into the crowd, well there’s not a crowd but somebody standing quite close by. It wasn’t in frustration.”
“Carreno Busta hadn’t even seen him do it but his team behind him was asking him why he didn’t get a warning for putting that racket into the stands. I think it was almost a little bit of needle bearing in mind what I’ve just said about the history between these two.”
“He was clearly trying to get the umpire to give him another warning. Who knows whether that would have meant disqualification again or what have you.”
“So it was quite an interesting moment and showed a lot of tension between the two of them and unfortunately for Djokovic, he couldn’t contain his emotions out there and it was Carreno Busta who came through.”
Djokovic has already been in the spotlight of late for antics on the court and off the court.
YouTube Link; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43oSxSxmnnE