“Rules are the rules”: Djokovic shocks tennis fans with rogue move on umpire
Novak Djokovic doesn’t believe he crossed a line by touching the umpire chair during a difficult Australian Open final on Sunday Night.
He is facing the prospect of a heavy fine for twice tapping Damien Dumusois on the foot while arguing with the official over the intense win over Dominic Thiem.
Djokovic ended up winning the match with an intense 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4.
The Serbian lost his cool after being slammed with back-to-back time violations in one game for taking too long to serve.
He walked past the umpire’s chair and tapped Dumusois on the foot, sarcastically exclaiming “You made yourself famous in this match. Great job. Especially in the second one. Great job. You made yourself famous. Well done man”, according to news.com.au.
Dumusois, to his credit, didn’t react. However, according to the official grand slam rule book, Djokovic could face a $30,000 fine, although penalties are discretionary.
The rules state: “Players shall not at any time physically abuse any official, opponent, spectator or other person within the precincts of the tournament site. Violation of this Section shall subject a player to a fine up to $US20,000 for each violation.”
Former Aussie pro Rennae Stubbs was stunned. “Wowza!!!! I cannot believe Novak just patted the umpires foot!!!!!!!!!! I mean wowza !!! The rules are the rules, you have to get that serve off before 00. I mean there is leniency sometimes because of the point prior but wtf with touching the foot!???”
“He shouldn’t do that,” added New York Times tennis writer Ben Rothenberg.
However, Djokovic doesn’t think that he overstepped the mark.
“I thought it was a nice, really friendly touch. I wasn’t aggressive with him in terms of physical abuse.
“I just couldn’t believe that I got the time violation. It kind of disturbed me. That’s all there is to it.
“Verbally we did have some exchanges, but no insults because if I did insult him, I would get a warning.
“Right now that you tell me that, I want to thank him for not giving me a warning for touching him. That’s all I can say.”
Djokovic was stressed out during the match but “couldn’t believe what was happening” when he won his eighth Australian Open.
“Tonight it was toe-to-toe battle. I was on the brink of losing that match. I didn’t feel great on the court at all,” Djokovic said.
“It was quite surprising, to be honest, because I felt it started off well.
“But I played a couple of doubles, then the energy dropped and then the whole thing just started happening. I couldn’t believe what was happening.”