Will Novak Djokovic ever learn?
The hot-headed No. 1 men’s tennis star lost his cool again Tuesday, slamming his racket against the court en route to a quarterfinal win at the Australian Open.
Djokovic became enraged and scarred the court after losing a point to Alexander Zverev in the third set.
The 33-year-old Serbian rebounded for a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over the No. 6 seed, as he looks to add a ninth Australian Open title to his men’s record.
“I kind of regained my focus after I broke that racket,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview. “Things started to shift a little bit for me in a positive direction.”
“It was a relief for me, but I wouldn’t recommend this kind of relief-channeling, if you want to call it,” Djokovic told reporters later on. “Of course I’m not proud of that, but you go through a lot of different emotions, you go through an inner battle. Everyone is different. I have my own demons that I have to fight with.”
Djokovic has been fighting demons for quite a while.
Most recently he was disqualified from the US Open in September after he smacked a ball in frustration and unintentionally hit a line judge in the throat.
That outburst cost him his 29-game winning streak.
“I’m going to take this in as profound as possible for me as a big lesson,” Djokovic said at the time.
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Originally published at https://nypost.com/2021/02/16/video-novak-djokovic-smashes-racket-at-australian-open/ on .
