Tag: Bad Behaviour

Novak Djokovic in the Spotlight for Controversial Behavior at Tokyo Olympics

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

Novak Djokovic Booed by Paris Masters Crowd After Controversial Moment against Roger Federer

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