Sunday wasn’t the first time we’ve seen Novak Djokovic express his frustration and anger on a tennis court.
He’s been known to smash his racket, and his actions on Sunday during a match at the 2020 U.S. Open — he hit a ball out of frustration that hit a line judge — lead to the No. 1 seed on the men’s side to default, which was completely justified given the rules in the ITF rulebook.
People on Twitter also unearthed video from a press conference in 2016, when Djokovic was asked about behavior like that, which included hitting a ball into the crowd at the ATP Finals in London and throwing his racket at the French Open that same year (the video of that incident is below).
“Does it concern you one day that will cost you dearly? If it hit someone …” a reporter asked, to which Djokovic scoffed.
“You guys are unbelievable,” he remarked at the time.
This clip certainly isn’t helping Novak Djokovic today. It’s from 2016. pic.twitter.com/7bNBw3G9pe
— Jenny Brockie (@JenBrockie) September 7, 2020
From 2016 pic.twitter.com/RR09XgSWVk
— Matt Roberts (@MattRobertsTTP) September 6, 2020
This amusingly crappy video is all I can find, a but a reminder that Novak Djokovic narrowly avoided a default for striking a line judge with his racket at 2016 French Open because of fast footwork by the line judge.
Pattern of recklessness. #USOpenpic.twitter.com/JVirYWICrw
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) September 6, 2020
It did end up costing him, four years later.
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