Why Djokovic got angry in the match against Cameron Norrie in the Round of 16 of the Italian Open
Novak Djokovic was not happy with Cameron Norrie’s action in the Round 16 game of the Italian Open. Djokovic won the Round of 16 match against the British tennis player Cameron Norrie in a straight set by 6-3, 6-4 on May 16th, 2023.
Cameron Norrie hit Novak Djokovic on his right calf area when Djokovic already turned around after knowing that it would be an easy point for Norrie, but the ball hit Djokovic, which made him angry as he stared down him.
In the post-match conference, Novak Djokovic said that he watched the reply when Cameron Norrie hit the ball on his calf and was not sure if he did it or by mistake, it happened. He further added that I had already backed off because he already knew that the points are gone away from him as the spot was perfect to hit.
“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…”
Novak Djokovic said in the post match presentation
He was also sad to see Cameron taking the medical time out just before Novak went for the serve. However, Cameron Norries apologized to Djokovic right away when his smash hit the world number on the leg.
Novak also said that Cameron used to do practice with him and off the field, he is really nice guy but don’t know why he did all that in the match. The things Norrie did was not something you can call good sportsmanship, but in the end, Novak won the match and entered the quarterfinal of the Italian Open and he will face Holger Rune who defeated him the last time they had a match against each other.