Novak Djokovic in ‘worrying’ admission over bottle incident after tennis defeat in Rome

After his fall at the Italian Open World number 1, Novak Djokovic He says his performance was severely affected by the after-effects of being hit in the head by a bottle. On Friday, the Serb was involved in a freak accident while signing autographs after his second-round win against Corentin Moutet.

The tennis Ace was hit in the head by a bottle while signing autographs and interacting with fans after his second-round win over France’s Corentin Moutet. Djokovic received treatment after the match and told fans he was fine, but days later against Alejandro Tabilo he looked a shell of his former self.

The world number one struggled to find any rhythm against Tabilo on Sunday as the Chilean beat him in just 67 minutes at the Italian Open. After the match, Djokovic blamed Friday’s incident for his 6-2, 6-3 defeat.

“That really touched me a lot. Afterwards I received medical attention and suffered from nausea, dizziness and blood for half an hour to an hour,” Djokovic said. The Serb initially played down the incident when he jokingly wore a bike helmet to training on Saturday, but after Sunday’s performance he says he will undergo further scans.

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“I was able to sleep well, I had a headache. The next day or yesterday it was pretty good so I thought it was fine. Maybe it’s OK, maybe it’s not,” he added. “The way I felt on the pitch today was just like another player had walked in my shoes. Just no rhythm, no tempo, no balance at all on any beat. That’s a bit worrying.”

The defeat means the six-time Italian Open winner has failed to reach at least the quarter-finals in Rome for the first time since 2006. The defeat continues a disjointed preparation for his French Open title defense, which begins May 26. The world No. 1 has still not reached a final in 2024 and has played just six matches on clay this year.

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Alejandro Tabilo makes history with victory over Novak Djokovic

Tabilo’s victory made him the first Chilean to defeat a world No. 1 in 17 years, since Fernando Gonzalez defeated Roger Federer at the 2007 ATP Finals. There is no single breaking point.

“It’s incredible. When I got on the court I just looked around, taking it all in and trying to process it all. I’m just trying to wake up,” Tabilo said. “I just tried to keep my nerve and keep swinging. Every time you feel like you’re almost at the end, your arms get a little tighter. I just tried not to think about it and go through it point by point. It’s crazy, I can’t believe what happened. Tabilo will play Karen Khachanov in the next round after the No. 16 seed Russian defeated Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4.

with AAP