Serbian Tennis giant Novak Djokovic was left displeased with the attitude of Britisher Cameron Norrie, with the 22-time Grand Slam champion even giving him a death stare after being hit in the ankle which left him fuming during their Round of 16 match at the Rome Masters 1000 tournament on Tuesday, May 16.
It was a hard-fought contest with Djokovic winning the game in straight sets. But Norrie celebrated his points with aggression and Djokovic did not hold back, giving it back to the 27-year-old. The Serbian went on to win the match 6-3, 6-4 to reach the Italian Open quarter-final for the 17th consecutive time.
It was the Serb's 3rd win over Norrie, including the Wimbledon semi-final victory in 2022.
Djokovic was also unimpressed when Norrie took a medical timeout while the Serb was preparing to serve for the match.
"It was a combination of things. From the beginning, he was doing all the things that were allowed," Djokovic said after the game.
"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 point from the first game. Those are the things we players know in the locker room aren't fair play, it's not how we treat each other. But, it's allowed, so..," Djokovic said.
"We practised 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. That's all it is. What happens on the court, we leave on the court and move on," the Serbian added.
Djokovic, who is bidding to win the Rome Masters for the 8th time, will face Holger Rune in the quarter-finals.
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