Novak Djokovic argues over line call, breaks racquet after it leads to set-loss in Monte-Carlo
Novak Djokovic had a forgettable day in Monte-Carlo, getting knocked out by Lorenzo Musetti in the third round of the tournament. Making things worse, the Serb was booed as he argued with the chair umpire over a line call, which led to him breaking his racquet into two - prompting another round of jeers from the crowd.
Playing his first professional match on the tour in over a month, Djokovic first defeated Ivan Gakhov, 7-6(5), 6-2 to make it to the third round of the Masters 1000 event. For a place in the quarterfinals, the top seed faced Italian youngster Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.
Djokovic won the opening set of the match 6-4, before Musetti fought back to force a decider. The second set had plenty of drama too, with Djokovic getting furious over a line call.
With Musetti serving at 3-4, Djokovic got into an argument with the chair umpire after the veteran thought that one of Musetti's shots was out. When the umpire came down to check, she awarded the point to the Italian, which seriously upset Djokovic.
The adamant Serb tried his best to convince the umpire that the ball was out, at which point he was greeted with boos and jeers from the crowd.
Tell me it's clay season without telling me it's clay season 🙃
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Musetti didn't let any of this get to him, as he held serve before breaking twice to force a third set. During the changeover, Djokovic walked to his bench and stomped on his racquet, thus breaking it in half. He later received a code violation warning.
Emotions running HIGH rn
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After rain briefly interrupted the contest, Djokovic failed to regain his rhythm while the Italian continued to produce the goods. The final score read 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in favor of Lorenzo Musetti.
Novak Djokovic to play the 2023 Srpska Open next week
After his shock exit from the Monte-Carlo Masters, Novak Djokovic will participate in the ATP 250 Srpska Open next week, which will be held in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The tournament was recently upgraded to an ATP 250 tournament and is set to host players such as Andrey Rublev, Borna Coric and Miomir Kecmanovic.
The Srpska Open will be held in the city of Banja Luka from April 17–23, with Djokovic's family being the tournament directors.