After being struck on the head with a bottle, Novak Djokovic claims the aftermath hampered him, as he lost unexpectedly to Alejandro Tabilo at the Italian Open.
The world champion was accidentally hit by the water bottle while signing autographs after defeating Corentin Moutet in the second round. He was then unable to find any rhythm against Tabilo, who won the third-round match 6-2 6-3 in just 67 minutes due to his playing difficulties.
Djokovic said: “That has really impacted me a lot. After that I got medical care, [and went] through half-an-hour [to] an hour of nausea, dizziness and blood.”
Djokovic’s health condition after the incident
He eventually laughed off the incident initially when he joked about wearing a bike helmet to training, but he now claims he will get more scans to make sure of his condition.
The athlete stated: “I managed to sleep OK, I had headaches. The next day, or yesterday, was pretty fine, so I thought it’s OK. Maybe it is OK, maybe it’s not… The way I felt on the court today was just completely like a different player entered into my shoes.”
“Just no rhythm, no tempo, no balance whatsoever on any shot. It’s a bit concerning,” he added.
In other news, Alejandro Tabilo, who is ranked 32nd in the world, won his first match against a top-10 opponent in his career. Throughout the game, he was in complete control, breaking Djokovic’s service four times and giving up only one breakpoint.
Tabilo declared: “It’s incredible. I came on court just looking around and soaking it all in, trying to process everything. I’m trying to wake up right now… I was just trying to keep my nerves and keep swinging. Every time you feel like you are close to the end your arms get a little tighter… I was just trying not to think about it and take it point by point. It’s crazy, I can’t believe what’s happened.”
Cover Photo: IG
Source: BBC
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