Novak Djokovic was struck within the head with a water bottle following his first-round match on the Italian Open.
The tennis phenom, 36, took to the stands after defeating French participant Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-1 on Friday, Could 10. Per social media footage shared by way of X, Djokovic was hit within the head as he approached followers to signal autographs, inflicting him to fall to the bottom in ache.
Safety on the occasion, which is held at Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, rapidly ran to Djokovic’s support earlier than ushering him again into the constructing.
Following the incident, match organizers launched a press release sharing that the athlete “underwent acceptable medicine and has already left the Foro Italico to return to his resort” and famous that “his situation will not be a trigger for concern.”
“We’re very upset about what occurred, and we try to determine who it was and perceive the dynamics,” Tennis Federation spokesman Alessandro Catapano mentioned in a press release, per Fox Information. “The police got here and requested for info, however the one that did it had already left. We’re going by means of the entire video and digital camera angles to see if we will decide what precisely occurred.”
Hours later, an alternate angle of the second was posted to X, revealing that the water bottle had fallen from above Djokovic by accident after it slid out of a fan’s backpack.
Friday’s match marked Djokovic’s first of the match, the place he sits because the No. 1 seed. His subsequent match shall be in opposition to Twenty ninth-seeded Alejandro Tabilo on Sunday, Could 12. Later this month, he’ll try and defend his title on the French Open which kicks off on Could 26.
This isn’t the primary time an unintentional damage has occurred on considered one of Djokovic’s courts. Through the US Open in September 2020, the participant inadvertently hit a lineswoman with a tennis ball and was subsequently disqualified throughout a fourth-round match in opposition to Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.
Novak Djokovic received hit within the head with a bottle by somebody within the crowd and fell and is bleeding.
Stunning lack of safety by the Rome match.
Somebody defend this man.pic.twitter.com/fGnVrYpb4h
— Danny 🐊 (@DjokovicFan_) May 10, 2024
Through the match, Djokovic appeared annoyed after being down 5-6 within the first set and showing to undergo a shoulder damage. As he walked off to the sideline for a changeover, he took a ball out of his pocket and his it behind him, putting the girl.
Djokovic was then approached by match referee Soeren Friemel and Grand Slam supervisor Andreas Egli who spoke on the courtroom for greater than 5 minutes earlier than finally deciding to disqualify Djokovic from each the match and the match.
“In accordance with the Grand Slam rulebook, following his actions of deliberately hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly inside the courtroom or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the results, the US. Open match referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US Open,” the United Said Tennis Affiliation mentioned in a press release on the time. “As a result of he was defaulted, Djokovic will lose all rating factors earned on the US Open and shall be fined the prize cash received on the match along with all or any fines levied with respect to the offending incident.”
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Djokovic later addressed the incident by way of Instagram, writing, “This entire state of affairs has left me actually unhappy and empty. I checked on the traces individual and the match informed me that thank God she is feeling okay. I’m extraordinarily sorry to have precipitated her such stress. So unintended. So unsuitable. I’m not disclosing her title to respect her privateness.”
He continued, “As for the disqualification, I would like to return inside and work on my disappointment and switch this all right into a lesson for my development and evolution as a participant and human being. I apologize to the @usopen match and everybody related for my habits. I’m very grateful to my staff and household for being my rock assist, and my followers for at all times being there with me. Thanks and I’m so sorry.”