“Can’t blame Nole” – Tennis Twitter DEFENDS Novak Djokovic’s frosty handshake at the net with Cameron Norrie after the Brit’s unnecessary antics

Novak Djokovic won his Round of 16 match against Cameron Norrie. Though he played impeccably against the Brit, what created more noise was the “icy stare’ and the “cold handshake” by the Serb. In the second set, the Brit hit a powerful return very close to the net on Djokovic’s body. This was completely unexpected, as Djokovic was not looking at Norrie because he thought he had already lost the point. To Novak’s amazement, Norrie hit a full power shot on the world no. 1’s torso.

Not just that, Cameron Norrie took a medical timeout when Novak Djokovic was serving for the match. This did not go down well with the Serb, as he was already upset with the incident earlier. All this culminated in a very cold handshake from Djokovic at the end of the match. Djokovic usually gives warm handshakes at the end of matches and is a gracious loser or winner. But his inhospitable handshake became the talk of the town today.

Norrie’s biggest moment of 2023 came when he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the Rio Open final in February 2023. This incident might be something that has brought him back to the limelight and Twitter chatter rooms.

Novak Djokovic is set up for a quarterfinal match with the twenty-year-old Holger Rune. Djokovic and Holger have had two very interesting matches in the past. The Dane defeated the world’s No. 1 in the final match of the Paris Masters 2022. That was one of the biggest victories for Rune. Though Djokovic defeated him in the first round of the US Open in 2021, this one will be an interesting battle. 

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An icy handshake is rare from Novak Djokovic

Cameron Norrie received a lot of internet bashing for that shot. Djokovic fans felt that he deserved the icy stare from world no. 1 and also the cold handshake.

Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:

A lot of tennis fans felt that Cameron Norrie was lucky that he even got a handshake from the Serbian. With what had transpired earlier in the match they thought post match the Serb would have been more hostile than he was.

Though some gave Norrie the benefit of doubt, saying the shot on Djokovic’s body was not intentional from the Brit.

Some fans also wrote that one should not mess with Novak Djokovic. He is an indomitable beast on court, and provoking him would not work in the favor of many. It was a popular opinion that Novak Djokovic has a huge presence in tennis and deserves respect. Perhaps Norrie should have offered a little more extended apology, and then Djokovic would have felt a little better than he did after taking that shot on the body.

In case you missed it:

• Marco Cecchinato SLAPS the camera in rage as tension rises at the net between him and Yannick Hanfmann in Rome
• Frances Tiafoe takes the ‘rowdy’ Italian crowd head on by asking them to boo louder after he shocked Lorenzo Musetti with an underarm serve

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