Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic has been fined a record amount for his outburst on Centre Court during the Wimbledon 2023 final against Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.
Djokovic vented his anger on his tennis racquet after getting broken on his serve in the fifth and final set by the world No. 1 Spaniard.
Djokovic went over to the net and smashed his racquet on the teek wood frame. The impact left a little dent on the woodwork while Djokovic's racket was smashed to pieces.
But he immediately picked up the broken racquet and put it in his kit bag during the break between serves.
The 36-year-old however, landed a hefty fine of $8,000 (₹6.56 lakh) for racquet abuse on court by the chair umpire.
Alcaraz stuns Djokovic to make history at Wimbledon
20-year-old Alcaraz eventually defeated Djokovic 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the marathon final which lasted four hours and 42 minutes.
Alcaraz became the first player in 10 years to defeat Djokovic at Wimbledon and break his 34-match winning streak on the prestigious Centre Court.
Djokovic conceded after the match that he was defeated by a better player and lavished praise on Alcaraz.
He even went on to compare Alcaraz to 20-time major winner Federer and 22-time Slam champion Nadal.
“I think people have been talking in the past 12 months or so about [Alcaraz’s] game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself. I would agree with that. I think he's got basically best of all three worlds.
“He's got this mental resilience and really maturity for someone who is 20 years old," the 23-time Grand Slam champion said at the post-match presentation.
"He's got this Spanish bull mentality of competitiveness and fighting spirit and incredible defence that we've seen with Rafa over the years," he added.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
