Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic’s anger is known to many by now. Another incident of his anger surfaced yesterday during the Wimbledon finals when Djokovic went up against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
The Spanish player handed the seven-time Wimbledon champion a defeat in a nail-biting match on Sunday. While Djokovic won the first set, he went on to lose the next two before taking the fourth in his corner and bringing it down to a deciding last set.
However, during the fifth set, the Serbian legend lost his cool and smashed his racquet against the net pole after going 3-1 down. The act was followed by booing by the audience.
Here is a video of the incident
Gracious in defeat
Djokovic, however, regained his composure and was gracious in his 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 defeat. The Serbian player, who has only faced two Wimbledon defeats since the 2013 final against England’s Andy Murray, said he was surprised that 20-year-old Alcaraz had mastered playing on all the surfaces. He even called Alcaraz a “complete player”.
“I didn’t expect him to play so well this year on grass, but he’s proven he’s the best player in the world,” he said.
Djokovic’s praise for Alcaraz
Djokovic went on to say that he has not played a player like Alcaraz ever. He agreed that his game consists of certain elements from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and himself.
“He’s got basically the best of all three worlds. He’s got this Spanish bull mentality, fighting spirit and incredible defence that we’ve seen with Rafa. I think he’s got some nice sliding backhands, some similarities with my backhands,” Djokovic added. Talking about his show of frustration at the court, he said, “There’s not much to talk about that. It was frustration.” His act left a sizeable dent in the net post.