“Waiting for them to claim guy was paid by Roger Federer” – Fans slam Novak Djokovic supporters for hypothesizing bottle accident to be intentional

Novak Djokovic was recently hit by a water bottle on the head as it dropped on him from a spectator's backpack at the Italian Open. The Serb was busy signing autographs then.

The Serb overcame Corentin Moutet from France 6-3, 6-1 in Rome on Friday, May 10, in the second round after having received a bye in the first. He broke Moutet's serve six times and won a total of 61 points to advance.

In an unfortunate turn of events after the match, the Serb suffered a head injury after being hit by a seemingly steel water bottle that slipped out of a fan's bag while the latter extended his hand for an autograph near the tunnel.

The tournament management suggested it happened by accident and gave assurance regarding the 24-time Grand Slam champion's well-being.

"Novak Djokovic on leaving the Central court at the end of his match was accidentally hit on the head by a water bottle while signing autographs to spectators.

"He underwent appropriate medication and has already left the Foro Italico to return to his hotel; his condition is not a cause for concern", Internazionali BNL d'Italia wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

However, a couple of the Serb's supporters claimed the bottle owner meant intentional harm.

"He is not holding anything for Novak to sign. He just leaned deeply and then stood up. Keep this video and all the others," a fan (@yolitatennis) wrote.

"I'm keeping everything Yoli, something doesn’t seem quite right here," another fan (@pavyg) replied.

At this, other tennis fans on X slammed the Serb's supporters for unnecessarily hypothesizing over something that was merely an accident.

"Djokovic fans; Just waiting for them to claim the guy was being paid by Federer and the Tennis Deep State," a fan wrote.

A screenshot from X (formerly Twitter).

"They are running an agenda like this was another Monica Seles like incident, while it was an unfortunate accident and thankfully Novak is fully fine," wrote another.

Here are a few more reactions from X:

"As much as I'm a Djokovic fan, pavvy needs help man," a fan wrote.

"They’ll be investigating this for many weeks…," another fan wrote.

"I feel bad for them, like something must not be right in their lives," a fan tweeted.

"Intelligence level of Novax fans never ceases to amaze," a fan stated.

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Novak Djokovic: "I am fine resting at the hotel with an ice pack"

A photo from Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2024

A few hours after being hit on the head, Novak Djokovic took to X a few hours later on Saturday to confirm that he was safe and making his recovery for the next round at the 2024 Italian Open.

"Thank you for the messages of concern. This was an accident and I am fine resting at the hotel with an ice pack. See you all on Sunday," he wrote.

Djokovic is scheduled to face Chile's Alejandro Tabilo in the third round on Sunday, May 12. It will notably be his first-ever meeting with the Chilean, who reached the third round on the back of a convincing win over Germany's Yannick Hanfmann in the second.

Tabilo converted two break points and hit seven aces against Hanfmann in their second-round meeting on Friday. He defeated the German 6-3, 7-6(4) to set up a meeting with Djokovic.

Whoever out of the two comes out on top, will face either 16th seed Karen Khachanov or 20th seed Francesco Cerundolo in the fourth round of the Italian Open.