"Posting this innocent man's pic, treating him like a criminal"- Tennis fans condemn targeting of spectator involved in Novak Djokovic bottle accident

The majority of fans had sympathy for the man who accidentally dropped a water bottle on Novak Djokovic's head. The Serb shockingly lost to World No. 32 Alejandro Tabilo 6-2, 6-3 in the third round of the Italian Open, and some of the fans cited the bottle injury as a reason for Djokovic's below-par performance.

Djokovic was accidentally hit by a water bottle when he was signing autographs for fans after his second-round win against Corentin Moutet. The World No. 1 immediately fell to the ground clutching his head seemingly in a lot of pain. It was reported that the Serb was left with a bump and some blood as a result.

After the match, some of the fans highlighted that getting hit by the bottle might have been the reason for his exit from the Masters 1000 event. Moreover, a fan on X (formerly Twitter) posted the image of the guy whose bottle fell on Djokovic's head, calling him out as an accused.

"In fact we don't know if this was an accident until we find this man, where is he coming from, where does he work, his age, when did he arrive in Rome this is all the questions police should ask"

However, most of the fans didn't agree with his thoughts and considered the guy in the image innocent. One fan called the action of singling him out as disgusting.

"Om*g this is disgusting posting this innocent man’s pic and basically treating him like a criminal"

"Imagine being in this guy's position, you go to a tournament and ask for an autograph from a player (probably even a fan bc why would you if you dislike that player) and accidentally your bottle flips from your bag and causes an accident, and now everyone treats you as a criminal," a fan remarked.

"Ruining someone's life because your favourite lost a tennis match?" a fan wrote.

Meanwhile, some other fans also opposed the accusations.

"they think its a conspiracy so r word, this lot," a fan joked.

"LMAO, cult fam is playing True Detective over a water bottle slip. I say build this guy a statue at Foro Italico for saving tennis. Sit down crocs," another fan said.

"Novak's fans are so weird. One would often laugh it off because no one takes them seriously, but here they are actively targeting an innocent man. They are the closest thing to a cult we have in tennis," a fan added.

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Novak Djokovic gives his take on the water bottle injury

2024 Australian Open - Day 13

Following his loss in the Italian Open third round, Djokovic attended a press conference. He appeared uncertain when asked if the water bottle incident had affected his match against Tabilo.

"I don't know, to be honest. I have to check that. Training was different. I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn't feel anything, but I also didn't feel the same. Today under high stress, it was quite bad - not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. Could be. I don't know. I have to do medical checkups and see what's going on," Djokovic said.

The Serb will next look to defend the Roland Garros title. The tournament will run from May 20 to June 9.