Watch: Novak Djokovic felled by flying bottle at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic needed medical treatment at the Rome Masters after he was struck on the head by a falling water bottle as he went to sign autographs following a routine victory.
A video shot by a nearby fan shows Djokovic immediately collapsing into a foetal position on the ground with his hands wrapped around his head.
After about 30 seconds, in which he is attended by a couple of security guards, Djokovic returns to his feet and is ushered off the court, hands still protecting his head.
New angle, all clear now, Novak is fine 👇 pic.twitter.com/LWhhpTN0DY
— Saša Ozmo (@ozmo_sasa) May 10, 2024
The unfortunate incident soured what had previously been a solid performance by Djokovic, who returned to the match court after four weeks away and easily overcame France’s Corentin Moutet – the world No 83 – by a 6-3, 6-1 margin.
The bottle appeared to be heavy and made of metal, so it would have caused quite an impact. However, tournament organisers said that this was nothing more than an accident, resulting from the bottle slipping out of a fan’s rucksack as he leaned over the rail to hand Djokovic a notebook for autographing.
The organisers added that Djokovic has a bump on his head and is being checked by doctors.
Even before the bottle landed on his head, Djokovic had not seemed to be in the best of moods, once reacting with unexpected frustration to a mobile ringing in the stands.
But his tennis was up to the task against Moutet, despite a shortage of recent matches. Djokovic has only played 16 times at this stage of the season, whereas some of his rivals are approaching twice that number.
Assuming that he is not seriously hurt, Djokovic will go on to face world No 32 Alejandro Tabilo of Chile in the third round of the Rome Masters, which is the last big event before the French Open.
He remains the world No1 and top seed, despite his failure to reach a tournament final this season. And his prospects of success – both in Rome and Paris – have been significantly boosted by a slew of injuries affecting the other leading contenders.
Both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner – the second – and third-ranked players on the ATP list – have pulled out of Rome with injuries, while Daniil Medvedev – who is due to open his Italian campaign against Britain’s Jack Draper on Saturday – withdrew from the last event in Madrid with hip trouble.
And then there is Rafael Nadal, the 14-time champion at Roland Garros, who is trying to rebuild his physical resilience ahead of one last tilt at the tournament he has made his own.
When you combine the list of invalids with Djokovic’s relative inactivity, this is looking like the most open grand-slam event we have seen in years, possibly even since the rise of the “Big Three”.
