‘Furious’ Djokovic shoots death stares and snubs handshake after incident

Novak Djokovic has been seething on ad off the court after an incident that left him staring daggers at his rival who crossed the line.

Novak Djokovic stared daggers at Cameron Norrie. Photo: Twitter, Tennis TV.

Novak Djokovic says Cameron Norrie crossed the line of how tennis players treat each other after they played out a heated match at the Italian Open on Wednesday morning.

Djokovic moved through to the quarter-finals although there was tension with the Briton after the top seed was hit by a smash.

Djokovic was seething after Norrie struck him with the ball after the Serbian had already turned his back.

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Djokovic turned and gave his opponent a death stare after the point — and it was just the start of the drama.

The 35-year-old barely looked at Norrie as they came together for an icy handshake at the net after Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-4 victory.

IDEMO Nole 💪@DjokerNole reaches the last 8 in Rome for the 17th consecutive time 🤯#IBI23pic.twitter.com/oZnrMMGMuT

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 16, 2023

Djokovic continued to give it to Norrie when speaking during his post match press conference.

Norrie had the whole court to put the ball away as Djokovic had given up on the point and was walking back to the service line.

The Briton raised his hand to apologise but at the changeover after Norrie moved to 3-2, Djokovic gave him another long stare as he passed him.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic didn’t say a word. Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP.

And after Djokovic sealed victory with his second match point he gave Norrie a cursory handshake at the net, while avoiding eye contact and without exchanging a single word with his dispatched opponent.

Leading tennis journalist Jose Morgado wrote on Twitter: “That was TENSE at the net, with Norrie hitting Djokovic’s body after he turned his back.

“Didn’t need that... Nole was furious.”

What happened there? 😳#IBI23pic.twitter.com/anA3ZvqVjj

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 16, 2023

Djokovic later explained that he had been irritated by Norrie’s on-court behaviour since the start of the match, doing “things that we players know in the locker room it’s not fair play”.

Norrie was shouting “come on” at the end of some points and most notable took a medical time out before Djokovic came out to serve for the match.

“He’s very nice guy off the court, so I don’t understand this kind of attitude on the court, to be honest. But it is what it is. He brought the fire, and I responded to that,” said Djokovic.

“I’m not going to allow someone behaving like this just bending my head. I’m going to respond to that.

“That’s all it is. What happens on the court, we leave it on the court, and we move on.”

Djokovic appeared to say Norrie crossed the line

“I don’t know if he saw me. Peripherally you can always see where a player is on the court,” he said.

“I just turned around because the point was over for me. It was not so much about that, as maybe a combination of things. From the very beginning he was doing all the things that are allowed.

Novak Djokovic was not happy. Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images.

Novak Djokovic stared daggers at Cameron Norrie. Photo: Twitter, Tennis TV.

“He’s allowed to take a medical timeout, he’s allowed to hit a player, he’s allowed to say “C’mon” in your face more or less on every single point from basically the first game.

“Those are the things the players know in the locker room, it’s not fair play, it’s not how we treat each other.”

Djokovic reached the last eight in each of his previous 16 appearances in the Italian capital to set up a clash with Holger Rune in a tournament which is a key warm-up for the French Open.

It will be a rematch of last year’s Paris Masters final, when the 20-year-old Dane won his first Masters 1000 title by beating Djokovic in a thrilling match.

“Even though he’s really young, I know his game quite well. He’s been on the tour now for last few years playing some great tennis, particularly in the last I would say six to eight months,” said Djokovic.

“He’s in very good form and I look forward to a challenge. I think it’s going to be a very physical match.”

Djokovic is gunning for a seventh title on clay in Rome and his chances have been made a little easier by the shock elimination of Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday.

Novak Djokovic laughed last. Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP.

Alcaraz, who won two consecutive tournaments at Barcelona and Madrid, will take world number one spot from Djokovic on May 22 but it is the 22-time Grand Slam champion who could go into Roland Garros with yet another title under his belt.

Third seed Daniil Medvedev came through 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) against Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud dispatched Laslo Djere, and Croatian Borna Coric prevailed in three sets over Fabian Marozsan, the Hungarian outsider who shocked Carlos Alcaraz in the third round.

Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in a third-round match which was suspended on Monday due to the rain to set up a meeting with another Italian, Lorenzo Musetti.

Rublev, seeded six, was upset 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3 by the world’s 101-ranked player, German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.

And Italian eighth seed Sinner was sent packing by Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-2.

In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek took her Rome winning streak to 14 matches with a 6-3, 6-4 success over Donna Vekic.

World number one Swiatek will take on Elena Rybakina in the quarter-finals after coming through the toughest match of her tournament so far.

Her bid for a third title in as many years has been boosted by seeds two to six all being eliminated.

— with AFP