Novak Djokovic Italian Open injury update: Serb suffers head injury, bleeding after getting hit on the head with bottle

Novak Djokovic kicked off his campaign at the 2024 Italian Open with a comfortable win in his opening contest on May 10. While leaving the court, the World No. 1 endured an unfortunate incident as a water bottle thrown from the stands hit him on the head.

Top seed Djokovic faced Corentin Moutet in his first match at the 2024 Italian Open and dispatched him 6-3, 6-1. After a slow start to the first set, the Serb recovered from a 1-3 deficit to gain the advantage and convincingly saw off the Frenchman in the second set to wrap up a win in an hour and 26 minutes.

After the match, Djokovic signed autographs and interacted with fans at Foro Italico. While leaving the court, a water bottle thrown from the stands hit the 36-year-old on the head. He collapsed right there, grabbing his head, which had started bleeding. The Serb was quickly escorted off the court.

Djokovic was taken to a medical center for immediate inspection. He suffered slight nausea but was fine, and his injury was not grave. It is being reported that the water bottle was not thrown intentionally. It reportedly fell out of a fan's backpack in the stands and unfortunately landed on the six-time Italian Open champion.

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Novak Djokovic to play Alejandro Tabilo in Italian Open 3R

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic's next opponent at the 2024 Italian Open will be No. 29 seed Alejandro Tabilo. The third-round clash will take place on May 12. The Chilean, who won his maiden tour title at the 2024 ASB Classic in Auckland, bettered Yannick Hanfmann in his second-round match.

Djokovic came to Rome in the hunt for his first silverware of the year. He failed to defend his Australian Open crown and has played very few tournaments in 2024. After losing to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals in Melbourne, the Serb suffered an upset at the hands of Luca Nardi in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters.

Novak Djokovic registered his best performance of the year at his previous tournament, the Monte Carlo Masters, where he reached the semifinals. He defeated Roman Safiullin, Lorenzo Musseti and Alex de Minaur before losing to Casper Ruud.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion decided to pull out of the Madrid Open at the last moment and headed to Rome to play just his fourth tournament of the year. He is hoping to break his uncharacteristic title drought on the 2024 ATP Tour by winning his seventh title in Rome.