(Tennis news) Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 in the last 16 of the Italian Open in what was a frosty encounter between the pair. The biggest talking point came in the fourth game of the second set when Norrie looked to retrieve an early break when he seemingly unintentionally hit the ball into Djokovic’s legs and was responded with an intense stare. The Serbian said after the match that he was not very bothered by the incident but Norrie’s overall demeanor as well as his medical timeout prior to the game was off putting.
The six time Italian Open champion said “I did watch the replay when he hit me. Maybe you could say he didn’t hit me deliberately. I don’t know if he saw me. I mean, (in your peripheral vision) you can always see where the player is positioned on the court. The ball was super slow and super close to the net. I just turned around because the point was over for me.
“It was not so much maybe about that, but it was a combination of things. From the very beginning, he was doing all the things that were allowed. He’s allowed to take a medical timeout. He’s allowed to hit a player. He’s allowed to say ‘C’mon’ in the face more or less every single point.
“Those are the things that we players know in the locker room. It’s not fair play, it’s not how we treat each other. I got along with Cameron really well all these years that he’s been on the tour. Practiced with each other. He’s a very nice guy off the court, so I don’t understand this kind of attitude on the court, to be honest. But it is what it is. He brought the fire, and I responded to that. I’m not going to allow someone behaving like this just bending my head. I’m going to respond to that. That’s all it is. What happens on the court, we leave it on the court, and we move on.”
Norrie has lost both his previous two matches against Djokovic and was outclassed this time around as well. The British number 1 dropped serve at the start of the match and was tactically outperformed by his more experienced opponent. Djokovic has never failed to progress into the quarter-finals in Rome and didn’t seem 100% match fit. He will now take on seventh seed Holger Rune, who defeated Alexei Popyrin in three sets while Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 7-6 (3).
Also read: Carlos Alcaraz knocked out of the Italian Open by world number 135 Fabian Marozsan
