"Djokovic would’ve been kicked out from the competition for this" - Tennis fans react to Victoria Azarenka accidentally hitting fan during Wimbledon
Tennis fans recalled Djokovic's 2020 US Open disqualification while reacting to Victoria Azarenka accidentally hitting a fan on the head during her third-round victory at Wimbledon.
The two-time Grand Slam winner advanced to the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships for the first time since 2017. She will lock horns with Elina Svitolina for a place in the quarterfinals. In the third round, the Belarusian defeated World No. 10 Daria Kasatkina, 6-2, 6-4. This was Azarenka's fourth win over the Russian in as many matches on the tour.
However, one of the talking points of the game was a shot from Azarenka that hit a fan on the adjacent court. During a rally, the Belarusian hit a powerful smash that hit the ground and bounced off to the next court, where it landed on the head of a spectator.
A spectator was hit on the head by a shot from a completely different court... 🫨
#Wimbledon https://t.co/GuSx9Pu2GX
Azarenka did apologize on social media for unintentionally hitting the fan. She shared Wimbledon's video of the same incident on her Instagram and said 'sorry'.
"Oops...sorry about that mate," she captioned her Instagram story.
This incident still earned reactions from tennis fans as they expressed their opinions on Twitter.
A fan opined that Djokovic would have been disqualified from the tournament if he had done the same thing.
"djokovic would’ve been kicked out from the competition for this."
djokovic would’ve been kicked out from the competition for this twitter.com/wimbledon/stat…
In the 2020 US Open, the Serbian was defaulted after hitting a lineswoman during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta. During the first set, the former World No. 1 hit a ball backwards that hit the lineswoman in her throat.
Despite his best efforts in aiding the injured linesperson and apologizing, the chair umpire awarded the victory to Carreno Busta.
Retired tennis great Martina Navratilova also reacted to the unlucky hit.
"Oops."
Oops:) twitter.com/wimbledon/stat…
Another fan said that the fans present watching the match were wondering where the ball went.
"I was at that match and wondered what happened to the ball and lol."
I was at that match and wondered what happened to the ball and lol twitter.com/wimbledon/stat…
Below are a few more fan reactions:
@Wimbledon Will the player be kicked out and fined just like in the French Open???
Un-receivable twitter.com/wimbledon/stat…
He's lucky it wasn't Ostapenko. twitter.com/Wimbledon/stat…
Me minding my own business... twitter.com/Wimbledon/stat…
That is hilarious, his expression 😂😂😂 twitter.com/wimbledon/stat…
@Wimbledon If this was the US Open, there’d probably be a lawsuit!
@Wimbledon They need to properly separate the courts 😤
Wimbledon 2023: Novak Djokovic will take on Hubert Hurkacz in 4R of Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic will take on Hubert Hurkacz in the fourth round of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. The 23-time Grand Slam winner defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets in the third round of the tournament.
On the other hand, Hurkacz bested Lorenzo Musetti in the third round to set up a clash with the Serbian legend. The duo have faced each other five times on the tour, with the four-time defending champion enjoying 100 percent success in the head-to-head record.
In their last meeting, at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships, the former World No. 1 defeated the Pole, 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the tournament. The winner of this clash will next take on either Andrey Rublev or Alexander Bublik in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.