Novak Djokovic accuses Cameron Norrie of gamesmanship after Italian Open clash: ‘I don’t understand this kind of attitude’
Novak Djokovic accused Cameron Norrie of unsportsmanlike behaviour after their fourth-round clash at the Italian Open.
It was Djokovic who prevailed and secured his place in the quarterfinals in Rome with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Brit.
While tension was building between the pair from the get-go, things reached boiling point in the second set when Djokovic had given up on a point and turned away from the net which led Norrie to produce a winning smash that hit Djokovic on the leg.
Norrie apologised but was met with a lengthy, icy glare from across the net.
After the match, Djokovic acknowledged that Norrie may not have hit him with the ball on purpose but went on to accuse the British No. 1 of ‘unfair play’.
‘’I did watch the replay when he hit me," Djokovic said during his post-match press conference.
"Maybe you could say he didn't hit me deliberately. I don't know if he saw me.
"Peripherally you can always see where the player is positioned on the court. The ball was super slow and super close to the net. I just turned around because the point was over for me.
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‘’It was not so much maybe about that, it was maybe about that, but it was maybe a combination of things. From the very beginning he was doing all the things that were allowed.
"He's allowed to take a medical timeout. He's allowed to hit a player. He's allowed to say 'come on' in the face more or less every single point from basically the first game.
‘’Those are the things that we players know in the locker room it's not fair play, it's not how we treat each other. But again, it's allowed so...’’
Djokovic pointed out this behaviour was uncharacteristic from the Brit before revealing he was happy to ‘move on’ from the incident.
‘’I get along with Cameron really well all these years that he's been on the tour,’’ he continued.
‘’Practiced with each other. He's a 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. 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.’’
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