https://www.foxsports.com.au/tennis/us- ... 8594724992Karma' a bitch.
Awareness has never been Novak Djokovic’s strong suit.
He’s never had much of a knack for reading the room and on this one night in 2016, he was asked a fair question he shrugged off as media bullying.
After a string of temper tantrums — including one at the French Open where he narrowly missed a linesman with his racquet — one reporter asked Djokovic if he was worried his outbursts could cost him dearly one day.
“You guys are unbelievable ... you’re always picking these kind of things. It’s incredible,” was Djokovic’s response.
The Serbian has been unaware of many things since.
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Unaware hosting a tournament without social distancing in the middle of a pandemic was a bad idea.
Unaware his push for a breakaway players union while tennis is managing the coronavirus crisis is a bad look.
On Monday morning (AEST), he was certainly unaware a lineswoman stood directly in line with his angered swat of a tennis ball.
Just like everything else in 2020 has blown up in his face, this did, too.
The lineswoman was struck in the neck, collapsed to the ground and struggled to breathe as Djokovic calmly walked over to check on her.
“She doesn’t have to go to the hospital for this,” Djokovic said according to senior tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg.
“You’re going to choose a default in this situation? My career, grand slam, centre stage.”
Unaware again, this time thinking that a self-serving response would be the appropriate reaction.
But there was no use in arguing because the karma gods had already called, and Djokovic was well overdue for his moment.
He was defaulted from the tournament, stripped of all prize money and of all ranking points earnt.
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Djokovic’s camp has long exuded the message that the rules don’t apply to him, particularly this year when he has repeatedly stolen the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Until Monday, his ill-fated Adria Tour and subsequent coronavirus diagnosis was the main event of his ignorance.
With Europe still in the grips of the pandemic in June, he hosted the exhibition in Serbia, flying stars in from across the continent who would hug on-court and pose for photos with volunteers, shoulder-to-shoulder and in large groups.
“Of course you can criticise, you can also say this is dangerous or not, but it’s not up to me to make the calls what is health-wise right or wrong,” Djokovic told reporters at the time.
The madness continued.
After the tournament, he was hitting the crowded dancefloor topless and doing the limbo alongside Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov.
But reality soon struck when the Croatian leg was cancelled due to players testing positive for coronavirus — including Djokovic and his wife.
Djokovic initially issued an apology, saying the tournament was created “with a pure heart and sincere intentions.”
The world No.1 could have been forgiven for then going into his shell after the embarrassment, but he has done the opposite.
Last month he insisted he hadn’t done anything “bad” and claimed he was the victim of a media witch hunt.
“Do I feel guilty for anybody that was infected from that point onward in Serbia, Croatia and region? Of course not. How can you blame one individual for everything?” he told the New York Times.
Another sports brat. Thank God this time it's not an Aussie.
