Will Novak Djokovic ever learn?
The No. 1 male tennis star, hot, lost his temper again on Tuesday and threw the racket against the track on his way to the quarterfinal victory at the Australian Open.
Djokovic became enraged and tore the court after losing a point against Alexander Zverev in the third set.
The 33-year-old Serb bounced back for a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory over No. 6 seed as he appears to be adding a ninth title to the Australian Open in its men’s record.
“I regained focus after breaking that racket,” Djokovic said in an interview on the track. “Things started to change a bit in a positive direction.”
“It was a relief for me, but I wouldn’t recommend this kind of channeling, if you want to call it that,” Djokovic later told reporters. “Of course, I’m not proud of it, but you go through many different emotions, you go through an inner battle. Everyone is different. I have my own demons to fight. “
Djokovic has been fighting demons for a long time.
Most recently, he was disqualified from the U.S. Open in September after he hit a ball in frustration and inadvertently hit a line judge in the throat.
That outburst cost him the streak of 29 wins.
“I’m going to dig as deep as I can into it as a great lesson,” Djokovic said at the time.