“Had His Heart in His Mouth”: Tennis Legend on Novak Djokovic Hitting Linesman at French Open 2020
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via Reuters
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts during his third round match against Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan Riveros REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
The dynamic between Novak Djokovic and line judges is becoming quite a trend these days. The World No.1 had accidentally hit a line judge while making an attempt to return the serve of Karen Khachanov at the French Open 2020. Former World No.1 Tim Henman expressed his thoughts on the incident. He believes that the Serbian legend must have had a ‘nightmare’ moment after the incident.
“It’s a nightmare – yeah, it’s a nightmare, obviously,” the former British player told Eurosport.
He referred to the incident as a nightmare as he felt the previous incident might still be haunting Djokovic. The 17-time Grand Slam winner was disqualified from the US Open 2020 after he had unintentionally hit a line judge with a ball.
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He has been unbeaten in 2020 so far. His only defeat came in the form of this disqualification.
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‘Would have had his heart in his mouth’- Tim Henman on Novak Djokovic
USA Today via Reuters
Novak Djokovic comforts the line judge at the US Open 2020. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
The 46-year-old British admitted that this incident was completely different from the one that had taken place at the US Open 2020. Here, it was undoubtedly unintentional as it happened during a point.
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Henman also described the whole incident.
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“It’s a great serve out wide from Khachanov. It’s skidded off the line. He gets it at full stretch at the end of the racket. Then, it hits the line judge. Obviously, it’s totally different circumstances [to his US Open disqualification] because this was in play within the rally.”
Djokovic easily defeated Khachanov in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to seal his spot in the quarters of Roland Garros 2020. However, Henman felt that the ball-hitting, even though being unintentional, would have allowed all those past memories to enter into his mind.
“But, I am sure he would have had his heart in his mouth at that stage,” said the British.
Unlike the US open 2020, where he got eliminated in an unfortunate manner, Djokovic will want to end the French Open 2020 on a high. The top-seeded player will next face Pablo Carreno Busta, against whom he got disqualified earlier, in the quarters of French Open 2020.
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