Furious Novak Djokovic mangles racket in final and is booed by Wimbledon crowd

16 July 2023 , 17:37

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Furious Novak Djokovic mangles racket in final and is booed by Wimbledon crowd

Novak Djokovic was roundly booed after smashing his racket against the net, denting one of the posts, after losing a game in the final set of the men's final at Wimbledon.

The incident happened after the Serbian's opponent Carlos Alcaraz broke his serve in the third game of the fifth set on Centre Court. As he stormed back to his seat, the Serbian threw his racket against the wooden post, putting a dent in it and breaking his racket.

The tennis legend was given a warning by umpire Fergus Murphy for a conduct violation. And the crowd packed in to watch the final loudly booed the Serbian for his temper tantrum, as Alcaraz pulled ahead in the deciding set.

Former British star Andrew Castle was sympathetic towards Djokovic for his outburst of anger. Castle said in commentary on BBC Sport: "It’s understandable how upset Djokovic would be. He has just lost his serve in the fifth set."

Fans though were left livid by his actions and quickly took to social media to slam him. One wrote: "Djokovic has lost his head."

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Another added: "Djokovic throws a temper tantrum and now his wrist hurts. Serves him right." While a third said: "Djokovic the baby is throwing his toys out the pram, what's new.."

A fourth concluded: "Djokovic antics are exactly why I’ve never liked him and he will never get the respect that Federer or Nadal has gotten when it’s all said and done."

Djokovic also appeared to hurt his wrist in the incident, which came after Alcaraz won a stunning break point. The Spaniard had lost the first set 6-1, before fighting back to take a 2-1 lead in sets. But Djokovic showed his champion pedigree to win the fourth set, sending the match to a decider.

The dent left in the netting post by Djokovic (BBC)

After going 2-1 up in the fifth set, Alcaraz pushed on to go 5-3 up, forcing Djokovic to serve to stay in the match. The Serbian had won the past four Wimbledon championships to be held, but is likely to now see his reign as champion come to an end.

It was not the first point in the match in which Djokovic had landed himself in hot water. Earlier on, the Serbian had been handed a time violation warning for taking too long to serve.

After dominating the opening set, Djokovic appeared to lose his way. And former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli questioned his gameplan in the final set.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, she said: "Djokovic has to be careful - he's being to passive. Don't expect too many errors from Alcaraz - I don't think you're going to get it."

Djokovic ultimately could not recover from losing that break, with Alcaraz going on to win the final set 6-4. That is his second Grand Slam title, having previously won the US Open.

Jacob Leeks