Djokovic breaks racket, “not in the mood to speak”

Novak Djokovic did not have the best day on Thursday, to say the least. During his match against Lorenzo Musetti in the last-16 of the Monte Carlo Masters, he lost his cool completely. In the second set of the third-round match, he argued with the chair umpire about the ball mark, was booed by the Italian-heavy crowd, and then smashed and broke his racket with his foot, prompting a racket abuse warning.

A bad day for Djokovic

Djokovic was struggling throughout the match. He hit just one ace and hit six double faults. He had also struggled on his way to this match, barely beating Ivan Gakhov, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Musetti, on the other hand, was in great form after defeating Luca Nardi in the second round. Musseti went on to beat Djokovic, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

After the match, Djokovic was short and direct with the press.

“Well, the feeling is terrible after playing like this, honestly, but congrats to him,” said Djokovic.

A reporter started to ask him to talk more about another subject, but Djokovic quickly cut him off.

“I cannot say anything, I’m fine. Congrats to him. We move on. Well, you always hope for a good day in the office, but yeah...I know I’m not playing so great and he’s playing very well, so I knew it was going to be a tough match.”

He was then asked about what caused him to have such a poor performance, but clearly annoyed, Djokovic just snapped back, “It’s not a great day for me, so I’m not really in the mood to speak.”

Once Carlos Alcaraz and Rafa Nadal withdrew from the Monte Carlo Masters, Djokovic was thought to be the favorite, which made his loss to Musetti pretty shocking. However, he’s been playing with a bandage on his arm and clear discomfort on his serves.

In contrast to Djokovic’s bad mood was Musetti’s elation, who said he was “struggling not to cry” after defeating tennis’ World No. 1.

“It is an emotional win because it was a really long match - three-hour match and suspended by rain,” said Musetti. “It was not easy conditions because it was a little bit windy and cold – not like we used to play in the recent days.”

“I am really proud of myself,” he continued. “It is a dream for me. Beating Novak is something remarkable for me.”