Since Novak Djokovic turned pro, he has broken the racket record of 62 times. That is six times what both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal add together. The Serbian legend may be regarded as one of the greatest of all-time tennis players but he hates to lose and always wants to put his frustration aside.
This season, at the Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic smashed his racket after losing the fourth round and was fined $8,000. At the ATP Finals in Turin, the 36-year-old smashed rackets during a frustrating tie break against familiar foe Holger Rune and looks likely to be fined for the second time this season.
Novak Djokovic regrets breaking rackets in Holger Rune match
Novak Djokovic won his first match in the Green Group stage after beating Holger Rune to seal his place as Year-End World No. 1 for a record eight times. The game was a rematch of the Rolex Paris Masters quarterfinals, in which Djokovic won and later went on to win his 40th Masters 1000 of his career.
During the match, the Serbian was in one of the worst tie breaks of his career, became frustrated, and broke with his foot all the rackets that were put in front of him. Both tennis rackets ended up lying almost broken on the back of his chair.
Novak Djokovic on breaking racquets: “I wouldn’t encourage anyone doing that. The reality is that I did it and I have to take my responsibilities. I had done it in the past and maybe it helped me feel more liberated, but there are smarter ways to put frustration aside. Neither do I encourage myself. I’m not happy with that. I definitely don’t like that I’ve done that. But I’ve done it, & that’s it.”
Djokovic would hope he doesn’t receive any fine but according to ATP law, breaking a racket warrants a $500 fine. Anyway, owning up to his attitude may be a way out of the penalty.
Holger Rune disagrees with Novak Djokovic’s claims
After Holger Rune’s loss to Novak Djokovic at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Djokovic was in high praise, admitting that Rune is “like looking at myself in the mirror. He is so good all over the court.” However, the 20-year-old star responded by declaring that he did not share this view when asked if he agreed with Djokovic’s assessment in his press conference.
“No. I mean, of course, I take the compliment that he’s saying we play similar. I don’t think so, but that’s my opinion. It’s good to be comparing with him. He’s one of the greatest that we ever had in the game,” explained Rune. “I think physically I felt okay. Of course, I feel it. We played three hours. But I’m sure he also felt it a little bit. I was ready, if I had the chance, from 5-3 to 5-4 to keep going, but that didn’t happen.”
The Dane also discussed the quality of the match and the fact almost all of his encounters with Djokovic have been very competitive. “Yeah, was a good match. I thought we both started well on our serve. I managed to break him early. He broke me back. Was pretty even the first set,” said the 20-year-old.
Novak Djokovic eyes his 7th title of the season and 7th Nitto ATP Finals, which will extend his record to 98 tour-level titles in his career. while Holger Rune, who sparked form since Boris Becker became his coach, would hope he wins his remaining two group games to see a place in the final.
Will this pave the way for Novak Djokovic to control his anger issues on court? Tell us what you think in the comments section.
