Novak Djokovic was booed by the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd at the Olympics before being hit with a warning.
The top seed wasn’t happy when he received his second time violation of the night and losing his first serve as a result.
After losing the next point, he went to argue his case with the umpire but received a code violation for audible obscenity. He then got broken and imploded, losing it with his own box.
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Tensions were high as Djokovic sought his first-ever final at the Olympics. Facing Lorenzo Musetti in the semis, he got off to a good start when he took the opening set 6-4.
But the world No. 2 has been in this position before and gone on to lose, and he was eager to avoid more heartbreak on Friday night. Djokovic and Musetti traded breaks to start the second and the Serb was suddenly under pressure when he mishit a smash and found himself serving at deuce in the third game.
Having already received a time violation earlier on, he received his second of the match when he ran the shot clock down. Under the rules, it meant he lost his first serve and went straight to a second serve.
The 37-year-old made the serve but lost an exciting rally and it brought up break point for Musetti. Djokovic went to his bench to wipe his face with his towel and briefly confronted the chair official as boos rang out.
As he returned to the baseline, Jaume Campistol announced: “Code violation, audible obscenity, Novak Djokovic.” The 24-time Major champion quickly turned around and went back to discuss the incident with the umpire.
And it appeared that he wasn’t happy with the lack of discretion used in such an important match. “You’re trying to do your job, you know how it is on court right? You recognise the right moment to do it,” he was heard saying.