Novak Djokovic’s bid to win his third straight Australian Open is in serious jeopardy despite defeating Taylor Fritz on Friday to advance to the fourth round of the tournament.

Speaking with reporters after the match, Djokovic revealed that he has a muscle tear that might force him to retire from the event.

“I know it’s a tear, definitely, of the muscle. So I don’t know if I’ll manage to recover from that in less than two days,” said Djokovic. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m going to step out onto the court or not.”

Djokovic got a comfortable 7-6, 6-4 lead over Fritz to start the match, and it seemed like he was heading to another easy win. But the contest took an unexpected turn when the reigning Australian Open champ awkwardly slipped while attempting to change directions.

Djokovic had to take a medical timeout and was obviously not at 100 percent once he returned. Fritz used his opportunity and crawled his way back by winning the next two sets with 3-6, 4-6.

Still, when it mattered the most, Djokovic rallied and managed to hold off the 23-year-old American in the fifth.

“I am just very proud of this achievement tonight,” Djokovic added. “Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Novak Djokovic is set to play against the No. 14-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic in the fourth round on Sunday. Raonic has faced Djokovic 11 times before and never managed to defeat him.

The post Novak Djokovic Says He Has a “Muscle Tear” Ahead of Australian Open 4th Round appeared first on SportzBonanza.

World’s No.1 tennis player Novak Djokovic is advocating for some major changes in tennis. Speaking with reporters at French Open over the weekend, Djokovic argued that line judges in tennis should be made obsolete in favor of technology.

According to Djokovic, having technology instead of judges would improve the sport. 

“The technology is so advanced right now, there is absolutely no reason why you should keep line umpires on the court. That’s my opinion,” said Djokovic, who advanced to fourth-round of 2020 the tournament with an easy 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 win over Daniel Elahi Galán on Saturday. “Of course, I understand technology is expensive, so it’s an economic issue and a question mark. But I feel like we are all moving towards that, and sooner or later there is no reason to keep line umpires.”

The majority of the tournaments rely on technology, known as Hawk-Eye, to make close calls but only if they are challenged by a player. In all other cases, it is the line judge that makes the call. Recently, several events experimented with using Hawk-Eye almost exclusively, but this isn’t expected to become a norm.

On the other side, tournaments that take place on clay, which includes the French Open, don’t use technology at all.

“I really don’t see a reason why every single tournament in this world, in this technologically advanced era, would not have what we had during the Cincinnati/New York tournaments,” Djokovic added.

It isn’t surprising that, out of all people, Novak Djokovic is the one asking to get rid of line judges. During the 2020 US Open, Djokovic slammed the ball in frustration towards the back end of the court and hit one line judge in the throat. This caused him to be defaulted from the tournament and stopped him from winning an easy Grand Slam title with the majority of his rivals missing the event.

The post Novak Djokovic Argues that Tennis Line Judges Should Be Replaced by Technology appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Novak Djokovic’s bid to win his 18th Grand Slam title ended in a bizarre fashion. Djokovic exited the 2020 US Open via default after accidentally hitting a line judge with a tennis ball.

The incident happened in the first set of Djokovic’s fourth-round match on Sunday against Pablo Carreno Busta. After losing a point and falling behind 6-5, the 33-year-old Serbian slammed the ball behind him without looking where he was aiming.

The ball, unfortunately, hit the line judge in the throat, causing the woman to collapse.

After discussing the incident with Djokovic for around 10 minutes, the decision was made to default the current No.1 male tennis player in the world from the tournament. He then shook hands with his opponent and left the court without speaking with journalists.

Djokovic later addressed the event on social media, saying he was sorry for his behavior.

“I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being,” Djokovic wrote on Instagram. “I apologize to the US Open tournament and everyone associated for my behavior.”

Novak Djokovic was the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s US Open, entering the tournament with a 26-0 record in 2020. Djokovic was also the only one of the tennis’ “Big 3” present at the tournament, considering Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal decided not to take part in the event.

Djokovic previously won five out of seven Grand Slam Tournaments and needs only two to tie Federer’s record 20 titles.

With Djokovic out, the US Open will now get a first-time tournament winner, considering none of the remaining players have previously gone all the way at Flushing Meadows. The last time this happened was in 2014 when Marin Cilic won the tournament.

The post Novak Djokovic Exits US Open for Accidentally Hitting Line Judge with Tennis Ball appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Number one tennis player Novak Djokovic is considering skipping the US Open if it ends up happening.

While speaking to Serbia’s state broadcaster RTS, the Serbian said that the restrictions that would take place at the Grand Slam tournament in New York due to the coronavirus would be too “extreme” and not “sustainable.” Reportedly, this includes a 14-day quarantine, restricted access to courts, and limited availability to travel around New York.

It’s not just the three-time US Open champion that feels this way. “Most of the players I have talked to were quite negative on whether they would go there,” Djokovic said. “For me currently, as things stand, most probably the season will continue on play at the beginning of September.”

Novak Djokovic is expected to return to competitive tennis at the French Open where he would compete for this second title and 18th Grand Slam win. The tournament usually takes place in late May and it has been postponed to September.

The post Novak Djokovic Thinking of Skipping U.S. Open Due to Coronavirus Restrictions appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Novak Djokovic’s bid to win his third straight Australian Open is in serious jeopardy despite defeating Taylor Fritz on Friday to advance to the fourth round of the tournament.

Speaking with reporters after the match, Djokovic revealed that he has a muscle tear that might force him to retire from the event.

“I know it’s a tear, definitely, of the muscle. So I don’t know if I’ll manage to recover from that in less than two days,” said Djokovic. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m going to step out onto the court or not.”

Djokovic got a comfortable 7-6, 6-4 lead over Fritz to start the match, and it seemed like he was heading to another easy win. But the contest took an unexpected turn when the reigning Australian Open champ awkwardly slipped while attempting to change directions.

Djokovic had to take a medical timeout and was obviously not at 100 percent once he returned. Fritz used his opportunity and crawled his way back by winning the next two sets with 3-6, 4-6.

Still, when it mattered the most, Djokovic rallied and managed to hold off the 23-year-old American in the fifth.

“I am just very proud of this achievement tonight,” Djokovic added. “Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Novak Djokovic is set to play against the No. 14-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic in the fourth round on Sunday. Raonic has faced Djokovic 11 times before and never managed to defeat him.

The post Novak Djokovic Says He Has a “Muscle Tear” Ahead of Australian Open 4th Round appeared first on SportzBonanza.

World’s No.1 tennis player Novak Djokovic is advocating for some major changes in tennis. Speaking with reporters at French Open over the weekend, Djokovic argued that line judges in tennis should be made obsolete in favor of technology.

According to Djokovic, having technology instead of judges would improve the sport. 

“The technology is so advanced right now, there is absolutely no reason why you should keep line umpires on the court. That’s my opinion,” said Djokovic, who advanced to fourth-round of 2020 the tournament with an easy 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 win over Daniel Elahi Galán on Saturday. “Of course, I understand technology is expensive, so it’s an economic issue and a question mark. But I feel like we are all moving towards that, and sooner or later there is no reason to keep line umpires.”

The majority of the tournaments rely on technology, known as Hawk-Eye, to make close calls but only if they are challenged by a player. In all other cases, it is the line judge that makes the call. Recently, several events experimented with using Hawk-Eye almost exclusively, but this isn’t expected to become a norm.

On the other side, tournaments that take place on clay, which includes the French Open, don’t use technology at all.

“I really don’t see a reason why every single tournament in this world, in this technologically advanced era, would not have what we had during the Cincinnati/New York tournaments,” Djokovic added.

It isn’t surprising that, out of all people, Novak Djokovic is the one asking to get rid of line judges. During the 2020 US Open, Djokovic slammed the ball in frustration towards the back end of the court and hit one line judge in the throat. This caused him to be defaulted from the tournament and stopped him from winning an easy Grand Slam title with the majority of his rivals missing the event.

The post Novak Djokovic Argues that Tennis Line Judges Should Be Replaced by Technology appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Novak Djokovic’s bid to win his 18th Grand Slam title ended in a bizarre fashion. Djokovic exited the 2020 US Open via default after accidentally hitting a line judge with a tennis ball.

The incident happened in the first set of Djokovic’s fourth-round match on Sunday against Pablo Carreno Busta. After losing a point and falling behind 6-5, the 33-year-old Serbian slammed the ball behind him without looking where he was aiming.

The ball, unfortunately, hit the line judge in the throat, causing the woman to collapse.

After discussing the incident with Djokovic for around 10 minutes, the decision was made to default the current No.1 male tennis player in the world from the tournament. He then shook hands with his opponent and left the court without speaking with journalists.

Djokovic later addressed the event on social media, saying he was sorry for his behavior.

“I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being,” Djokovic wrote on Instagram. “I apologize to the US Open tournament and everyone associated for my behavior.”

Novak Djokovic was the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s US Open, entering the tournament with a 26-0 record in 2020. Djokovic was also the only one of the tennis’ “Big 3” present at the tournament, considering Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal decided not to take part in the event.

Djokovic previously won five out of seven Grand Slam Tournaments and needs only two to tie Federer’s record 20 titles.

With Djokovic out, the US Open will now get a first-time tournament winner, considering none of the remaining players have previously gone all the way at Flushing Meadows. The last time this happened was in 2014 when Marin Cilic won the tournament.

The post Novak Djokovic Exits US Open for Accidentally Hitting Line Judge with Tennis Ball appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Number one tennis player Novak Djokovic is considering skipping the US Open if it ends up happening.

While speaking to Serbia’s state broadcaster RTS, the Serbian said that the restrictions that would take place at the Grand Slam tournament in New York due to the coronavirus would be too “extreme” and not “sustainable.” Reportedly, this includes a 14-day quarantine, restricted access to courts, and limited availability to travel around New York.

It’s not just the three-time US Open champion that feels this way. “Most of the players I have talked to were quite negative on whether they would go there,” Djokovic said. “For me currently, as things stand, most probably the season will continue on play at the beginning of September.”

Novak Djokovic is expected to return to competitive tennis at the French Open where he would compete for this second title and 18th Grand Slam win. The tournament usually takes place in late May and it has been postponed to September.

The post Novak Djokovic Thinking of Skipping U.S. Open Due to Coronavirus Restrictions appeared first on SportzBonanza.