"Before attack on Monica Seles, there was no security...Novak Djokovic was scared; it left mental scars": Guido Monaco on Serb's Italian Open accident
Former Italian ATP player Guido Monaco shared his thoughts on Novak Djokovic's freak accident following his second-round Italian Open win against Corentin Moutet. The accident involved a metal water bottle slipping out of a fan's backpack and hitting the top of Djokovic's head when the Serb was interacting with other fans.
Following the accident, Djokovic collapsed to the floor holding his head. He was later escorted by security. The next day, the 24-time Grand Slam winner showed up all smiles for another interactive session with fans, jokingly wearing a helmet.
However, Djokovic's smiles were short-lived. He looked completely out of sorts in his third-round match against Alejandro Tabilo, with the Chilean going on to produce one of the shocks of the tournament by comfortably dispatching the Serb 6-2, 6-3.
The World No. 1 underwent scans on the head shortly after exiting the tournament. Fortunately for him, the results showed no significant damage. In a recent conversation with OA Sport, Monaco revisited the accident. The Italian pointed to the tragic knife attack on Monica Seles in 1993, and how that highlighted the glaring lack of security in tennis.
"Let's not forget that before the knife attack on Monica Seles, there was no security in tennis," Monaco said.
The former ATP player went on to talk specifically about Djokovic's accident. According to Monaco, it scarred the Serb mentally, despite his attempts to make light of it the next day by wearing a helmet to the fan interaction session.
"This incident caused a lot of blood to flow but he was very scared, regardless of whether it was accidental, he was really very scared. And even though he joked with the helmet the next day, it left mental scars," Monaco added.
"It was quite bad" - Novak Djokovic on head injury after shock Italian Open loss to Alejandro Tabilo
Djokovic opened up about the injury he sustained, due to the freak accident, during a press conference following his loss to Tabilo. According to the Serb, the injury did not cause prolonged pain. However, he said that it did impact how he felt on the court against Tabilo as he cited a lack of "balance" and "coordination".
"Today under high stress, it was quite bad - not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. A completely different player from what it was two nights ago (against Moutet)," Djokovic said.
Right now, Djokovic is set to begin his maiden Geneva Open campaign in the second round against Yannick Hanfmann. The Serb took a wild card entry into the ATP 250 event to get ready to defend his French Open title.