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Journalism of Courage
World No 1 Novak Djokovic who lost to the 29th-seeded Alejandro Tabilo in the third round of the Italian Open on Sunday, said that getting hit with a bottle on his head a day before the match might have had an impact on the result, saying that while playing there was a problem with his balance.
“I don’t know, to be honest. I have to check that. Training was different. I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn’t feel anything, but I also didn’t feel the same. Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. Could be. I don’t know. I have to do medical checkups and see what’s going on,” he said when asked if Sunday’s upset had anything to do with the bottle ibcident.
“I mean, I think in the video you saw it very clearly. It was a very unfortunate, unlucky situation for me. It was an accident where that guy leaned over the fence, and the bottle dropped from his rucksack and landed directly on my head. It was unexpected obviously. I wasn’t even looking up. Then I felt a very strong hit in the head. That has, yeah, really impacted me a lot. After that I got the medical care. Been through half an hour, an hour of nausea, dizziness, blood, a lot of different things. I managed to sleep okay. I had headaches. The next day or yesterday was pretty fine, so I thought it’s okay. Maybe it is okay. Maybe it’s not. I mean, the way I felt on the court today was just completely like a different player entered into my shoes. Just no rhythm, no tempo, no balance whatsoever on any shot. It’s a bit concerning,” he added.
On Friday, Djokovic had gotten hit on his head with a water bottle and sunk to the floor after his 6-3, 6-1 win over French qualifier Corentin Moutet in his opening match at the Italian Open. The 24-time Grand Slam champion was returning after nearly a month off.
Videos showed Djokovic placing both of his hands on his head and then curling up on the ground after getting hit. A security guard hovered over Djokovic, in an apparent attempt to shield Djokovic, who was later helped down the tunnel into the locker room.
Later, after multiple videos surfaced, it became apparent that the “attack” on Djokovic was not deliberate.
The bottle belonged to a fan, who was leaning over the railing to hand Djokovic his notebook for a signature, when an aluminum-type water bottle slipped out of his backpack and hit the top-ranked player on the top of his head.
While Djokovic skipped his press conference, he said he was “fine” later.
“Thank you for the messages of concern. This was an accident and I am fine resting at the hotel with an ice pack,” Djokovic posted on X. “See you all on Sunday.”
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Djokovic had a bump on his head and he was checked by doctors, tournament organizers said. He did not hold his usual post-match news conference.
“While leaving center court after his match, Novak Djokovic was hit on the head by a water bottle while signing autographs. He received medical attention and has already left the Foro Italico to return to his hotel. His condition is not a cause for concern,” organizers said in a statement.
Djokovic had a bit of blood on his head but did not require stitches, Italian Tennis Federation spokesman Alessandro Catapano said.
“He was upset, but he seems OK,” Catapano had said before the footage showed that the incident was inadvertent. “We’re also very upset about what happened and we are trying to figure out who it was and understand the dynamics. The police came and asked for information but the person who did it had already left,” Catapano added. “We’re going through all of the video and camera angles to see if we can determine what exactly happened.”
The 36-year-old Serb is preparing to defend his title at the French Open, which starts May 26.
