Djokovic Sorry for Outburst, but His Drama Is Often Self-Inflicted

But for Djokovic, who grew up with precious little when Serbia was viewed as a political pariah, the bubbles still rise frequently to the surface.

This was not the first time he put a line umpire in danger. In 2016 at the French Open, his racket slipped backward out of his hand as he swiped it in anger during a quarterfinal match with Tomas Berdych and just missed a judge. That could have been a default in the year Djokovic went on to win his only French Open.

Later that season at the ATP Finals, he angrily smacked a ball into the stands without hitting anyone and later squabbled with a reporter who suggested this might be a pattern of behavior and said it could have been dangerous if he had hit a spectator.

“It could have been, yes,” Djokovic said. “It could have snowed in O2 Arena, as well, but it didn’t.”

Nearly four years later, the mood changed abruptly in Arthur Ashe Stadium as the line judge dropped to the court after being hit.

“It feels like sometimes the anger comes out of control,” Hantuchova said of Djokovic. “I care so much about him and respect everything he is doing for our game, but I just hope there is a lesson to be learned, even if this one came at the worst possible time, where pretty much the only thing standing between him and an 18th Grand Slam title was himself, with all my respect to the other players.”

Djokovic was fined his prize money of $250,000 on Monday plus $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct: a pittance for someone who has won more than $140 million in career prize money. What hurts is the missed opportunity to narrow the gap with Federer, who has won a record 20 major singles titles, and Nadal, who has won 19.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-us-open.html