Novak Djokovic defends fiery temper, says he can't rule out repeat of US Open fiasco

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has spoken out on his disqualification from the US Open 2020 one week after the infamous incident. Ahead of his first match at the Rome Masters, the Serbian has defended the angry outburst that led to him being defaulted from the US Open. Talking to reporters, Djokovic said that while the US Open disqualification was a big lesson, he cannot guarantee that he will never have an on-court outburst again. 

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Djokovic: " I cannot promise I will never ever do anything similar to that in my life"

Making his first public appearance since the incident, Novak Djokovic talked about the heated incident that broke his undefeated streak in 2020, and cost him a US Open title. In his fourth-round match with Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, at the US Open 2020, Djokovic was down 5-6 in the opening set. Having just lost his serve, he had given Carreno Busta the chance to serve for the opening set. In anguish, he hit a loose ball, that flew towards a line-judge and struck her in the throat. The judge, Laura Clark immediately fell on the floor and could be seen clutching her neck. Djokovic also went up to her the second he realised what had occurred but ended up being defaulted. He also posted a heartfelt apology on social media later. 

Speaking about the incident, he said: “Sometimes situations like this happen. I cannot promise I will never ever do anything similar to that in my life. I am definitely willing to try my best so that something like that never happens again. But anything is possible in life so I am going to take it as profoundly as possible as a big lesson." Djokovic also said that “It was very unexpected and very unintended as well, to hit her. But the rules are clear so I accepted it. These things stay in your memory for the rest of your life. But I don’t think I will have any major issues coming back to the tour.”

This will be great news for all of Djokovic's fans because it was predicted that he may have some trouble with fans and players' reactions to his disqualification that would affect him on the tour. 

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Djokovic's return to the tour

In the absence of Djokovic, who was the favourite to win the US Open 2020 Men's singles title, Austria's young gun Dominic Thiem took away the crown. It was his first Grand Slam win. Djokovic was chasing his 18th Grand Slam title, which would have put him just one behind Rafael Nadal. He will now be playing at the Rome Masters, where he has won four titles. After receiving a first-round bye, Djokovic will meet either Tennys Sandgren or Salvatore Caruso in his first match up at the event.

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Image Credits: US Open Twitter