Pablo Carreno Busta Unhappy with Novak Djokovic not receiving a Point Penalty for throwing his Racquet into the Stands
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Pablo Carreno Busta and Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic came to Tokyo hoping to win the gold medal for himself and his country, Serbia. He has never won an Olympic gold before and it is the only title left to achieve in his tennis career. He was also eager to become the Olympic Champion to get one step closer to achieving the Calendar Golden Grand Slam.
However, all his dreams were squashed in less than 24 hours. In the semi-finals, he first lost in the men’s singles event to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 1-6. Later on that day, lost in the mixed double’s event where he was partnered with Nina Stojanovic. The pair lost against the Russian team led by Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina in straight sets, 6-7 (4-7), 5-7.
The Serbian failed to win in the bronze medal match as well and will now be headed home without a medal. In the singles event, Djokovic faced number 6 seed, Pablo Carreno Busta from Spain. After an almost 3-hour marathon, Busta won the bronze medal for his country in three sets, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3. Djokovic later withdrew from the mixed doubles bronze medal match citing a left shoulder injury.
During Djokovic’s match against Busta, the world number 1’s anger and frustration got the better off him which led to throwing and smashing of racquets.
Busta not happy with the Umpire’s decision over Djokovic’s frustration on court
Djokovic was losing his third match in just 24 hours and when things were not going his way, the Serbian lost his cool. As the match progressed, his frustration was becoming more and more evident.
Busta won the first set, 6-4 and with none of the players being able to break in the second set, it went into a tiebreaker. Busta got a bronze medal match point during the tiebreak, however, Djokovic was able to save it and closed out the second set in his favor which led to a third, decider set.
In the opening game of the third set, Djokovic lost his temper after he was not able to reach a stop volley winner from Busta at the end of a long rally. Djokovic acted out and threw his racquet over five rows of seats into the stands. After a few games, Busta broke Djokovic’s serve to take the lead in the final set. Once again, Djokovic lost his cool and smashed his racquet into the net post and then tossed it into the photographer’s pit.
Novak received a verbal warning for smashing his racquet but Busta questioned the umpire of why he was not given a point penalty because it was second instance of racquet abuse. The umpire however did not give a warning for the first instance when Djokovic threw his racquet in the stand and thus, Busta did not receive a point.
After the match, Busta made a remark on Djokovic not getting a point penalty by saying, “Maybe it is difficult to ensure compliance with the rulebook when the World number 1 is playing”.
Also read: Pablo Carreno Busta upsets Novak Djokovic to win the bronze medal in men’s singles
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Ananya Agarwal
(107 Articles Published)