In the Davis Cup quarterfinal against Great Britain on Thursday night, Novak Djokovic expressed his annoyance at having to complete doping control only 90 minutes beforehand.
The world number one became irritated with some GB fans following the match when they interrupted his on-court interview with chants and drumming.
Even before he played Cam Norrie, he was already annoyed about his training schedule being interrupted by an unexpected visit from World Anti-Doping Agency officials.
Djokovic told Serbian media: “I didn’t believe that they could make such a decision; in 20 and more years of my career, it never happened to me that an hour and a half before the match, I needed to go for doping control. I have my own routine. I don’t need that distraction—to have my urine and blood taken—to think about whether I can give urine at that moment. A completely illogical decision.”
He added: “I didn’t see any reason or logic, but I hope they change such decisions. It’s a shame what they did. They told me that one of the important reasons for that decision was that it would end late so they would give us more time to rest. I support testing myself or anyone—a hundred times, no problem, but not before the match.”
In the end, it had no effect on him, and he performed to his usual level to defeat Norrie’s game challenge and advance to Saturday’s semifinal match against Italy. Although there was a pause during the pandemic, tennis has increased its anti-doping measures recently.
Novak Djokovic in 2023
WLWWWWWWWW Ranked world no.1, Novak played his last match on the 23rd of November when he beat world no.18 Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
During this season Novak has a composed 56-6 match record. Djokovic clinched 7 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open, French Open, Cincinnati, U.S. Open, Paris and the Nitto ATP Finals. Djokovic was the finalist in Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic |
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