World number 1, Novak Djokovic has been upset in his third-round match-up by Chilean, and world No. 29, Alejandro Tabilo in the Italian Open in Rome. However, Djokovic hinted that there may have been reasons for his lack-lustre display, which saw him go down in straight sets, 2-6 3-6.
Was his loss impacted by the now infamous, ‘water-bottle incident’, which saw him accidentally struck in the head by a metal water bottle? Djokovic was signing autographs after his second-round victory over Corentin Moutet. A fan was leaning over the railing, seemingly wanting to shake the Serbian’s hand, before the bottle slipped out of the fan’s backback.
Discussing the impact it might’ve had on his performance, the 24-time Grand Slam winner spoke to reporters after his loss:
“That has really impacted me a lot. After that I got medical care, been through half-an-hour, an hour of nausea, dizziness and blood. 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.”
Just the day before, Djokovic had made light of the situation, by returning to the practice court wearing a bicycle helmet. However, it seems that light-heartedness may have disappeared now.
“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.”
“Training was different. I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn’t feel anything, but I also didn’t feel the same. Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago.”
Talking about the incident itself, Djokovic said,
“It was unexpected obviously. I wasn’t even looking up. Then I felt a very strong hit in the head.”
For just the second time since 2006, Djokovic will head to Roland Garros without a title in his pocket. It will be slightly concerning for the Serbian, as he simply hasn’t been able to gain any consistency or momentum in his season so far.
On the other side of the coin, Tabilo is having the season of his life so far, winning his first ATP title in Auckland, making the final of Santiago, and winning the Aix-en Provence Challenger event last week. He is now at a live ranking of 29, and will be full of confidence heading into the French Open.
Tabilo commented after the match,
“I was just trying to keep my nerves in, trying to keep swinging. Obviously every time you feel like you are closer to the end, your arms start to get a little tighter and you start to swing shorter, so I was just trying to not think about it and take it point by point. It’s crazy, I can’t believe what just happened. It’s incredible. I came on court just looking around, just trying to soak it all in and trying to process everything. I’m just trying to wake up right now.”
Tabilo will now take on Karen Khachanov for a place in the quarter-finals.
