Novak Djokovic admits he was lucky not to be disqualified from French Open
Friday 3 June 2016 14:59, UK
Novak Djokovic admits he was lucky to have avoided disqualification during his French Open quarter-final win over Tomas Berdych on Thursday.
Djokovic qualified for his fifth consecutive semi-final at Roland Garros with a comfortable 6-3 7-5 6-3 victory over his Czech opponent.
However, the 11-time Grand Slam champion came dangerously close to being defaulted from the tournament after nearly hitting a line judge with a his racquet in the third set.
After missing a break point opportunity, Djokovic went to slam his racquet into the ground - only to see it slip out of the back of his hand and fly past the official.
The 29 year-old Serb would have been disqualified if his racquet hit the official but Djokovic says it was never his intention to hurt the line judge.
"It's obvious what I tried to do," he said. "I threw a racquet on the ground and it slipped and almost hit the line umpire. I was lucky there. That's all."
Djokovic was involved in a similar incident in the Rome Masters final earlier this month, when his racquet bounced into the crowd after being thrown.
"I am aware that I have been lucky, and I apologised to people that have been in this particular situation with me and that could have been hurt by my racquet," he said at the time.
"But it was never the intention. It was just an unfortunate bounce, but a fortunate ending of that scenario."
Djokovic's opponent, Berdych, believes the umpire made the correct decision not to disqualify the Serb.
"If he would hit the (line judge), it would be over," said the Czech. "If not, then it's just a broken racquet. A simple warning."
Djokovic will now face Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals after the Austrian beat David Goffin 4-6 7-6 6-4 6-1 on Thursday.
