"Monica Seles was stabbed deliberately, this was accident" - Fans reject 'ridiculous' comparison between Djokovic's bottle incident & Seles' stabbing

Tennis fans dismissed the comparison between Novak Djokovic's bottle accident at the Italian Open and Monica Seles' tragic stabbing incident. Several fans deemed the comparison to be "ridiculous."

After securing a win in the second round of the 2024 Italian Open against Corentin Moutet with a score of 6-3, 6-1, Djokovic went to the stands to sign autographs for his fans.

However, amid the fans' excitement to get something signed by the World No. 1, a bottle fell from a fan's bag, from the stands, and struck the Serb on the head, causing him to crouch in pain. The 36-year-old was promptly taken for a medical examination and cleared of any serious injury. The incident was deemed an accident with no malicious intent.

Whereas, in 1993 during a quarterfinal match at the Citizen Cup in Hamburg an obsessed fan of Monica Seles' rival, Steffi Graf, named Gunter Parche, stabbed Seles between her shoulder blades. Parche's sinister motive was to eliminate Seles from the competition, who was ranked World No. 1 back then, for Graf to reclaim the top spot.

A fan recently drew parallels between these two incidents, suggesting that Novak Djokovic's bottle accident was deliberate.

However, the majority of tennis fans vehemently disagreed with this comparison. They took to social media to express their dissenting opinions.

One fan argued that Monica Seles' stabbing was a premeditated attack, while the Serb's incident was purely accidental.

"Monica was stabbed in the back deliberately. This was an accident. Stop being so ridiculous," the fan posted.

"I can assure that you haven't seen the Monica Seles incident," a fan posted.

Others dismissed the comparison as absurd and "ridiculous."

"This is a ridiculous comparison. Seles was deliberately attacked and stabbed, it's not on the same level. This was an unfortunate accident. Hopefully Novak is ok," a fan wrote.

"Give me a break. No comparison to the intentional attack on Monica," a fan wrote.

Some fans opined that the severity and intent behind Seles' stabbing could not be equated to the 24-time Grand Slam champion's bottle accident.

"You did NOT just compare this incident with Monica getting stabbed," a fan posted.

"Don’t normally concern myself with the Novak fanatics, but bloody hell, what a comparison! Complete fool," a fan wrote.

"Comparing a water bottle accidentally falling onto someone’s head to a deliberate stabbing attack? Novak Djokovic fans are the dumbest people I have ever seen," a fan posted.

Novak Djokovic on the bottle incident at Italian Open 2024: "It was a very unfortunate, unlucky situation for me"

Novak Djokovic

After sustaining a head injury during his second-round match at the 2024 Italian Open, Novak Djokovic addressed the incident in a press conference. He described the event as "unfortunate" and deemed himself "unlucky."

"I think in the video you saw it very clearly. It was a very unfortunate, unlucky situation for me. It was an accident where that guy leaned over the fence, and the bottle dropped from his rucksack and landed directly on my head," he said.

The Serb revealed that the "unexpected" impact of the bottle had a significant effect on him, causing dizziness and nausea for quite some time.

"It was unexpected obviously. I wasn't even looking up. Then I felt a very strong hit in the head. That has really impacted me a lot. After that I got the medical care. Been through half an hour, an hour of nausea, dizziness, blood, a lot of different things," he added.

Novak Djokovic's campaign at the 2024 Italian Open came to an end after a defeat to the 29th seed, Alejandro Tabilo, in the third round. He is next scheduled to compete at the 2024 French Open.