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(Reuters) – Less than two weeks after being disqualified from the US Open, Novak Djokovic’s frustration boiled over once again when he broke his racket in a fit of rage during his 6-3 4-6 6-3 win over Dominik Koepfer in the Quarterfinals of the Italian Open on Saturday.
The top-ranked Serbian broke in love in the sixth game of the second set, after which he threw his racket to the ground, prompting a warning from the chair umpire.
“Well let me tell you it’s not the first or the last racket that I will break in my career,” Djokovic, 33, told reporters. “I’ve done it before, I’ll probably do it again. I don’t want to do it, but when it comes, it happens.
“I guess that’s how I release my anger sometimes. And it’s definitely not the best message out there, especially for young tennis players who watch me.
“I’m definitely not encouraging it. But, look, we’re all people. We all do our best. There were times and periods when I didn’t do that, and there are periods when I do,” he said. .
The Serbian was disqualified from the US Open after inadvertently hitting a ball in the throat of a linesman during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreño Busta. [nL8N2G30NM]
Djokovic, who apologized at the time and promised to draw valuable lessons from the incident, reiterated that he was working on his “mental and emotional health” to try and keep his emotions at bay.
“It has always been a part of my, I guess, training and recovery, to develop a strong character and understand myself on different levels, a holistic approach to life,” said the 17-time Slam champion.
“That’s me. Of course I’m not perfect. I’m doing the best I can.”
Djokovic, who faces Norway’s Casper Ruud in the semi-finals, will have a chance to seal a 36th Masters 1000 crown following the surprising departure of nine-time champion Rafa Nadal at the hands of Diego Schwartzman.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; edited by William Mallard)
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