Dubai – World number one Novak Djokovic thinks the disqualification of Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev after his freak-out in Acapulco was the right decision.
“I think the disqualification decision was not too harsh. I think it was right under the circumstances,” the 34-year-old Serb said on the sidelines of his tournament appearance in Dubai. He hoped that Zverev could reflect on it and that something like this would never happen to him again.
At the tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, Zverev had hit the umpire’s chair several times with his tennis racket after losing the doubles match and was subsequently excluded from the rest of the tournament by the men’s organisation ATP. Afterwards, the 24-year-old from Hamburg apologised for his behaviour and announced that he would learn the lessons from the incident.
“He realises that it was a mistake. I understand the frustration. Sometimes you feel a lot of different emotions in the heat of the moment on the court,” Djokovic said. “But of course I’m not justifying his behaviour.” Zverev’s statement was correct, he said. “He said he made a mistake and his behaviour was inappropriate.”
The 20-time Grand Slam tournament winner had himself been disqualified at the 2020 US Open for unintentionally shooting a lineswoman with a tennis ball in frustration. At the ATP tournament in Dubai, the Serb defeated Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in the second round. Djokovic will now face Czech Jiri Vesely in the round of the best eight.
