Cameron Norrie hits Novak Djokovic in the body with overhead smash, receives brutal staredown from irritated Serb
Novak Djokovic defeated Cameron Norrie in the fourth round of the 2023 Italian Open on Tuesday to secure a spot in the quarterfinals, his 17th straight year reaching the stage in Rome. Apart from the Serb's win, Norrie hitting him with the ball, probably unintentionally, became a major controversial moment that caught a lot of attention.
The moment took place in the fourth game of the second set when the Serb took a loose shot and turned his back mid-court as he started walking back to the initial position, convinced that the point was lost. However, as Norrie found the ball, he smashed it right into the ankle of the 35-year-old, making Djokovic furious.
What happened there? 😳
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Cameron Norrie's smash seemed unintentional, as he quickly apologized to the World No. 1 by raising his hands after hitting him. However, his apologies didn't appear to be accepted, as Novak Djokovic gave the Brit a brutal staredown before walking away.
Consequently, the two had a frosty handshake at the end after the 22-time Grand Slam champion recorded a comfortable win over the 27-year-old.
Novak Djokovic storms into Italian Open quarterfinals after win over Cameron Norrie
After defeating Tomás MartÃn Etcheverry and Grigor Dimitrov in the earlier fixtures, Novak Djokovic faced off against British No. 1 Cameron Norrie in the fourth round. The Serb was expected to emerge as the eventual winner, but Norrie was also envisioned to give him a hard time on the clay court.
The match was delayed at the start as the Serb had to spend a few minutes in the treatment room. Thus, as the first set got underway, the Serb made it evident to the 27-year-old that contesting against him wouldn't be an easy task as he quickly rushed to a 3-0 lead. Norrie was visibly troubled as the 22-time Grand Slam champion was making him cover the whole court for every single point. Thus, the Serb sealed the first set 6-3 with ease.
IDEMO Nole 💪
@DjokerNole reaches the last 8 in Rome for the 17th consecutive time 🤯
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In the second set, Norrie portrayed great spirit in the initial games as he managed to make the score 2-2. The Brit was unbothered after the ball-hitting incident as he was competing neck-to-neck with the World No. 1. However, Djokovic accelerated in the end to seal the victory, eradicating all the chances of a third set.
With the 6-3, 6-4 victory, the top seed maintained his record of never losing before the quarterfinals of the Italian Open. Up next, the Serb will be facing Holger Rune, who overcame the likes of Alexei Popyrin and Fabio Fognini to reach the last eight.