Updated July 31st, 2021 at 19:13 IST
Tokyo Olympics: Angry Novak Djokovic smashes his racquet after bronze medal match defeat
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medal match between Novak Djokovic and Pablo Carreno Busta turned ugly as the Serbian lost his temper on multiple occasions.
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World number one Novak Djokovic not only failed to win the elusive golden slam but also failed to win a consolation bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The Serbian lost to Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 on Saturday. Earlier in the semi-finals, Djokovic suffered a heartbreaking loss to Germany's Alexander Zverev on Friday.
Novak Djokovic fails to win elusive golden slam
Novak Djokovic's defeat to Alexander Zverev in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 semi-finals brought an end to a stunning 22 consecutive victory run. Since this remarkable streak, he has lost back-to-back matches and an opportunity to win the elusive golden slam. Steffi Graf is the only tennis player to achieve this feat when she did so in 1988.
Novak Djokovic feels terrible following his failure to win the golden slam
While all is not over for Novak Djokovic at the Tokyo Olympics, since he is yet to compete for the mixed-doubles bronze medal match, his failure to establish himself in the history books will certainly hurt. Speaking about the loss, Djokovic said, "I feel so terrible right now. I can’t be positive right now. I got to give him credit for turning (the) match around. He served extremely well. I mean I was not getting too many looks on the second serve. My serve just drastically dropped. I didn’t get any free points from 3-2 up in the second. My game fell apart."
Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Djokovic was tipped to win the gold medal considering his remarkable year so far. The Serbian has won the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon this year. While he can no longer win the golden slam, he can still chase the calendar-year Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open. No man has accomplished this feat since Rod Laver in 1969.
Frustrated Novak Djokovic throws and smashes racket
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medal match between Novak Djokovic and Pablo Carreno Busta turned ugly as the Serbian lost his temper on multiple occasions. In the first instance, the world number one threw his racket in the stands after losing a frustrating point. However, the situation worsened in the third set when he was 3-0 down as Djokovic smashed his racket at the net. Both videos can be seen below.
Djokovic just tossed his racquet into the stand. No warning. pic.twitter.com/TMCv29dCnQ
— . (@Ashish__TV) July 31, 2021
#Djokovic smashing his racket, taking cooling showers and throwing his racket at the stands is the highlight of his failed attempt to even win bronze medal at the #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/F4c3j2cDNB
— Ekrem Idrizi (@EkremIdrizi) July 31, 2021
This is not the first time that the 20-time Grand Slam champion has vented out his frustrations. At the 2020 US Open, Nolle was trailing Pablo Carreno Busta 6-5 in the opening set when he hit a ball behind him in rage, unintentionally hitting the line judge in her neck. The Serbian was immediately disqualified following which an embarrassed Djokovic immediately took to social media to apologise for his actions.
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Published July 31st, 2021 at 19:13 IST
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