The fine will be deducted from his runner-up cheque
Novak Djokovic has been fined more than £6,000 for smashing his racquet during his Wimbledon men’s singles final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.
The Serb lost in five sets to the Spaniard on Sunday, his first defeat at Wimbledon since 2018 and first defeat on Centre Court since 2013.
In the fifth and final set of the match, the 36-year-old’s serve was broken by the 20-year-old prodigy in the third game of the set. This was after Djokovic had slipped during the decisive rally on break point, and had missed chances to break Alcaraz himself in the game before.
Clearly, Djokovic had reached boiling point, and as he returned to his chair, he launched his racket into the net post, turning it into a mangled mess.
The Spanish sensation has done it 🇪🇸@carlosalcaraz triumphs over Novak Djokovic, 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in an all-time classic#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/sPGLXr2k99
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 16, 2023
He was immediately issued with a warning for a code violation for the transgression by umpire Fergus Murphy.
The money will be deducted from his runner-up cheque of £1.175m.
The break ended up being crucial as Alcaraz held serve for the rest of the set to triumph at the All England Club in a 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory after four hours and 42 minutes.
Elsewhere in the epic match, Djokovic clashed with Irish umpire Fergus Murphy.
At one stage, the Serbian approached Murphy, who was born in Dublin, to challenge him on the strict manner with which he was maintaining a fluid pace of play.
Comments picked up by nearby mics from Djokovic included:
“What do you mean? I can’t get the towel from the ball kids, so I have to go myself. Why do you…”
“If I am not able to get the towel from the ball kid, I have to go and get the towel, but you start the time, how is that fair?”
“Oh, you do it for everybody?”
The Dublin-born umpire’s responses were not audible.
According to reports, the pair have previous history with Djokovic claiming Murphy ‘had no clue about the game’ in a 2016 match over a similar time violation dispute.
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