"What happened to me at US Open could have happened to Tsitsipas" - Djokovic on the heated Wimbledon clash
ATPTuesday, 05 July 2022 at 16:45
Updated at Saturday, 14 December 2024 at 13:40
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios played a heated match at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, during which the Greek player nearly hit a spectator.
It happened after frustration from the match boiled over, with Tsitsipas carelessly slamming the ball towards the stands, nearly hitting a fan in the head.
Kyrgios was furious about it, demanding a default and calling for every available supervisor. Eventually, the match continued without a default but drew many reactions afterward.
Novak Djokovic was one of the players that commented on what happened during the match, saying that Tsitsipas was lucky to avoid a disqualification. Djokovic himself was not so lucky at the US Open in 2020.
"There are players whose attitude provokes you or irritate you. And there are opponents who don’t make you feel that way. This is an individual sport, we are all different, and it is relative what is good and what is not, because there are different perspectives on everything that has happened in their match."- Djokovic on Kyrgios - Tsitsipas clash
"What happened to me at the US Open almost happened to Tsitsipas. He was lucky because he did not hit anyone directly in the crowd although the ball hit the wall and then hit someone in the crowd because he hit the ball really hard."
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The default that happened to Djokovic at the US Open created controversy in the tennis world. While the Serbian's actions could be described as careless, the default was likely too harsh as well.
"I had that situation in the past, and I know how frustrating it can get on the court. On the other hand, I am ashamed and I always regret when I make a mistake like that and I apologise to the world because I know that that sort of behaviour is not appropriate."- Djokovic on his US Open outburst
"I hope that Tsitsipas himself realises it’s a mistake and that he was very lucky, risking to hurt someone and to be disqualified from the match."
For Djokovic things like that don't have a place in tennis because it's the wrong thing to promote in tennis and any other sport.
Djokovic understands why some people claim that drama like that is good for the sport, but he simply can't accept such behavior and feels deep regret for many of his outbursts on the court.
"There are people who say that everything that attracts attention to this sport is good, but I can’t agree with that fully. There are sport values and behaviour that us as their colleagues want to see on the court."- Djokovic on outbursts in tennis
"I was disqualified two years ago when I hit the line judge with the ball, so I can’t talk like someone who has never done anything bad on the court, like someone who has never broken a racquet."
"On the contrary, a lot of times I have behaved badly and unsportsmanlike in terms of emotional outbursts, but I have always tried to behave in a sporting manner and with respect towards my opponents."
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