WATCH: Novak Djokovic says sorry and apologizes for outburst against umpire
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic has not played on clay much this year. A side strain forced him out of tennis for almost two months, post his triumph at the Australian Open, and he only returned in time for the Monte Carlo masters. But unfortunately for Djokovic and his countless fans around the world, he was ousted in only his second match, at the round of thirty-two by Dan Evans.
Next up was the Serbia Open, which is a matter of pride for Serbians and particularly for the Djokovic family who are directly involved with the organization of the tournament. But, Djokovic failed to win it. Beaten by Aslan Karatsev in the Semi-finals. After the match Djokovic had spoken about feeling humiliated on his defeat at home.
Novak Djokovic has come to Rome with high expectations. So far, he has beaten Taylor Fritz in his first match and Fokina in the second. Next up for him is Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Quarter-finals.
Novak Djokovic talks about his outburst against the umpire
Novak Djokovic has come to Rome not only as the defending champion but also under pressure to win a trophy on clay this year. The pressure told as, during the match against Taylor Fritz in the Round of thirty-two at the Italian Open Novak Djokovic lost his cool with the chair umpire.
The altercation happened when Djokovic thought he was being forced to play in the rain, which can be dangerous and result in injuries. Novak Djokovic, unhappy that the umpire was not calling a halt to the match due to rain, shouted “How much more you wanna play?”. After his match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina though Djokovic apologized for his behavior the other day.
Novak Djokovic said, “I can easily lose that class, you know, as you can see on the court, you know,” he reflected on his behavior toward the umpire. “I get frustrated. I don’t want to say I get frustrated easy, but you know I do have emotions like anybody else.”
He added, “I’m a human being so I tend to lose my cool. I’m not proud of that. At times of course I’m ashamed of it. And I don’t have any issue to say I’m sorry and apologize.” Novak Djokovic said all this in an interview with Prakash Amritraj at the Tennis.com.
Auri Ghosh
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