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Novak Djokovic started his journey at the ATP Finals with a success, with a victory in three sets against Holger Rune, even if there was a moment of great tension. It took almost three hours of match to deliver the first victory to the Serb, who, thanks to this success, guaranteed himself the lead in the ranking at the end of the year, leaving his rival Carlos Alcaraz behind.
The match against the Dane did not go as smoothly as the Serbian champion would have hoped. After a first set won in the tie-break, the Scandinavian talent was able to rebalance the match by winning the second set tie-break, which took the match to the third and decisive set.
Novak Djokovic's madness: but destroyed rackets don't deserve boos
And there was so much tension that he paced this last set, between one break and another. In particular, the lost serve at the 2-0 result was particularly felt by Djokovic, who after having accumulated so much tension during the match, then exploded, showing all his frustration.
Novak, in a rage, destroyed two rackets, to the disapproval of the crowd. In his post-match statements, the world number 1 then publicly apologized to the people in the stands for the excessive reaction and the less than educational gesture.
It is not an isolated gesture, it is a moment of anger that occurred during Djokovic's career, like during the careers of many other tennis stars. And it's normal: when you play such important and decisive matches, it's normal to have excess nervousness.
And even smashing a racket is not an act to be condemned. There is a lot of tension and a lot at stake, and letting these emotions shine through isn't necessarily a bad thing. Even for the crowd: for young people it is not an example to share, but they (and even the more experienced and older ones) should avoid condemning these gestures, because there is a great amount of pressure on the shoulders of tennis players.
They are human beings, like all of us, we must never forget that. The Serbian champion will face Jannik Sinner tomorrow in a match that will decide the group top. The Italian, currently first in the group, is currently ahead of the Serbian thanks to the best result obtained in the afternoon against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
In fact, Sinner won with a 2-0 result.
The highs and lows of tennis 😳#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/qy9UdEO3yG — Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 12, 2023