Wimbledon champion sticks up for Novak Djokovic as locker room 'view' on Serb emerges
Novak Djokovic has been defended after facing some adversity at the Italian Open.
Novak Djokovic has been defended after having a tough time at the Italian Open. The world No. 1 was booed when he walked off court following his shock loss to Alejandro Tabilo on Sunday. But two-time Wimbledon doubles champion Paul McNamee has opened up on what Djokovic’s rivals in the locker room really think of him.
Djokovic’s Italian Open campaign was overshadowed by a freak accident that saw him hit on the head by a metal water bottle that fell out of a fan’s backpack while he signed autographs after his opening match. The 24-time Major winner poked fun at the incident when he turned up to the tournament in a bicycle helmet the next day.
But the fun was over when he suffered an uncharacteristic 6-2 6-3 defeat to Tabilo, appearing flat as he rushed in between points. And the Italian fans made their feelings clear about Djokovic’s performance as they booed him while he left the court. The 36-year-old later received some criticism on social media when he addressed whether his performance could be related to the water bottle incident.
But McNamee stuck up for Djokovic as he shared the “view” that the rest of the tour had of the Serb, putting to bed any ideas that he was disingenuous. The retired former doubles No. 1 tweeted: “Djokovic is variously described as divisive and insincere.
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“Of course, that’s from people who don’t know him. If you want the reality, ask the locker room. That’s where he is the MAN… highly respected and popular. So perhaps check with his peers?”
It’s not the first time that Djokovic has faced adversity during the clay season. In his only other tournament on the surface this year, the Monte-Carlo Masters, he was booed after flagging a line call to the umpire during his match against Lorenzo Musetti.
But he had the perfect reaction, sarcastically pretending to conduct the crowd’s jeers like an orchestra. He went on to win the match and reached the semi-final - his best result in Monte Carlo since 2015.
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Djokovic is now set to undergo tests to determine whether the water bottle caused him more issues than he previously thought. But he made sure to give full credit to Tabilo after losing to the world No. 32. “Congratulations to my opponent. It's the first time I faced him. Great player. Really quality player. All-around game,” Djokovic said at the beginning of his post-match press conference.
Asked whether his performance could be related the bottle incident, he replied: “I don't know, to be honest. I have to check that. Training was different. I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn't feel anything, but I also didn't feel the same.
“Today under high stress, it was quite bad - not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. Could be. I don't know. I have to do medical checkups and see what's going on.”