MY ACCOUNT
Novak Djokovic condemned the actions of Alexander Zverev, but expressed his support for the world number three after he was “withdrawn” from the Mexico Open for hitting the umpire’s chair with his racquet.
Zverev was enraged during a doubles clash with partner Marcelo Melo against Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara, after the umpire over-ruled a decision from the line judge.
That subsequently handed Glasspool and Heliovaara match point in the super tie-break, which was decided by an ace on the next serve.
Zverev quickly walked off and smashed his racquet against the umpire’s chair three times, before shouting at the umpire that he had “destroyed the whole f****** match” and striking the chair again.
The German was then withdrawn by the ATP due to “unsportsmanlike conduct” ahead of a second-round singles meeting with Peter Gojowczyk.
The Olympic champion has apologised for his actions, explaining his regret at letting his fans, the tournament, and the sport that he loves down, and Djokovic believes Zverev will learn from his mistake.
“I saw the video, I saw Sascha’s [Zverev] statement,” Djokovic told reporters at a news conference after cruising into the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
“I think he said it all in that statement. He realises that it was a mistake. I understand the frustration. Sometimes on the court, you feel in the heat of the battle lots of different emotions, different things happening in your head.
“I’ve made mistakes in the past where I’ve had tantrums on the court, so I understand what the player is going through. Of course, I do not justify his actions, but that statement has handled it in the right way.
“He said he made a mistake and his actions were not appropriate. I think that the disqualification decision was not too harsh, I think it was correct under the circumstances.
“Of course, it can be harsh for a player to get disqualified from a tournament. I know a year-and-a-half ago, I had something – I can’t say similar – but I was disqualified from a grand slam after unintentionally hitting the line umpire.
“I realised that it was a mistake and I had to take it. Hopefully, he can reflect on that and not let something like that happen again in his life. I’m sure that he’s going to approach it maturely.”
Djokovic enjoyed a much calmer outing in Dubai, where he overcame Karen Khachanov in just 98 minutes 6-3 7-6 (7-2) to tee up a quarter-final tie against qualifier Jiri Vesely.
He was then keen to stress that Zverev is not the first player to produce a raging response when on the court, and insisted that the 24-year-old will recover from the outburst.
“I’m sure that the ATP management and officials will look at the video, will probably interview the chair umpire, will take some time to decide what they want to do,” he added.
“I’m never going to encourage the ATP disqualifying or fining a player because I’m not in a position to do that, why would I do that?
“Everyone is a human being, everyone is flawed and can make mistakes, but I wouldn’t say that he was the only one that ever has done something like that.
“There were many examples of players hitting their racquet in the umpire’s chair. It happens. Bottles, bags were thrown, a lot of things, a lot of bad words. It’s not the only case.”
