"What happened to me at US Open could have happened to Tsitsipas" - Djokovic on the heated Wimbledon clash
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios played a heated Wimbledon clash where the Greek player nearly hit a spectacular.
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, he did continue playing the match and commenting on the situation, Djokovic admitted Tsitsipas could have gotten defaulted.
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. 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.
The default that happened to Djokovic at the US Open created controversy in the tennis world. While all agree the act was shameful, many did think it was a bit too harsh. Djokovic was a huge favourite at that event with Dominic Thiem ending up with the trophy.
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. 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 behaviour 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. 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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