Novak Djokovic defeated Cameron Norrie in two sets at the Rome Open but it wasn't a match without controversy as Djokovic explained after the match.
The Serbian took exception with the way Norrie behaved on the court admitting that he doesn't consider it fair play. One particular moment stands out, an overhead smash that hit Djokovic with Norrie immediately apologizing but the Serbian was not happy. He admitted after the match that it might have been by accident but he was still not happy with it:
"I did watch the replay when he hit me. Yeah, maybe you could say he didn't hit me deliberately. I don't know if he saw me. I mean, peripherally you can always see where the player is positioned on the court. The ball was super slow and super close to the net. I just turned around because the point was over for me."
His generally displeasure about the behaviour was overall though as he felt that Norrie several things that aren't considered fair play on a tennis court:
"It was not so much maybe about that, but it was maybe a combination of things. From the very beginning, I don't know, he was doing all the things that were allowed. He's allowed to take a medical timeout. He's allowed to hit a player. He's allowed to say C'mon in the face more or less every single point from basically first game. Those are the things that we players know in the locker room it's not fair play, it's not how we treat each other. But, again, it's allowed, so..."
He also admitted it was surprising because they got along well:
"I got along with Cameron really well all these years that he's been on the tour. Practiced with each other. He's very nice guy off the court, so I don't understand this kind of attitude on the court, to be honest."
Novak Djokovic was very strong on his issues with Cam Norrie today, which were to do with Norrie's frequent fistpumping and medical timeout, not just the smash. "Those are the things that we players know in the locker room it's not fair play, it's not how we treat each other."
