NORRIE LAUNCHES VOLLEY AT NOVAK

Brit says Djokovic turned up late for fiery Rome clash

CAM Norrie has returned serve to Novak Djokovic after the Wimbledon champion accused him of underhand tactics during their stormy encounter at the Italian Open.

The British No1 is not in the mood to make peace with the 36-year-old Serb, who he drilled with an overhead when they met in Rome earlier this month. Djokovic also suggested the spirit of fair play had been breached with an injury timeout and overly aggressive verbals during an unusually spicy clash.

Norrie — who today meets Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the second round at Roland Garros — is calm off the court, but stubbornly competitive upon it.

It has emerged that when he played Djokovic in Italy, he was exasperated at the Serbian champion turning up late for what was the first match of that day. Norrie also denied there was any intention to cause harm when he thumped the ball at his opponent from a smash.

‘I apologised straight away and I didn’t see him,’ he said. ‘I looked up and hit the ball down low. I didn’t see him turn and concede the point. He’s one of the best players in the world and I wanted to play my best and compete as hard as I could.

‘I didn’t think I was in his face at all. No, it was a regular tennis match for me. I was feeling my hip a bit and I took the medical timeout. It is within the rules.’

Norrie had been forced to wait in the corridor at the Foro Italico prior to the match’s morning start. He admitted he was shocked to discover later that there is so much leeway given by ATP Tour officials to players who do not turn up on time.

‘They told me it was within the rules,’ Norrie said. ‘He wanted some more time on the physio bed and the match was scheduled for 11am. We walked out at maybe 11.13am. I don’t think he saw any problem with that.

‘He never said anything to me and he never apologised. I asked: “Was that OK to do that?”. They (the officials) said: “Yeah, it is within the rules”. After 15 minutes he gets defaulted.

‘I’ve never seen that before from any player. Regardless if it’s a tennis match or not, you turn up on time. I’m usually a pretty punctual guy, I can’t really relate to it too much.’

Norrie could, in theory, meet Djokovic in the French Open semi-finals, but before that will have to improve on his narrow first-round victory against Benoit Paire. The match was played against a backdrop of highly partisan home support, and it will be no different when he tackles Pouille.

While currently ranked 675, the 29-year-old has previously been as high as No 10 before a combination of injury and mental health issues laid him low.

Pouille underwent elbow surgery in 2021 and plunged into a spiral of depression when results failed to materialise upon his comeback. Having contemplated quitting altogether, he has begun to rebuild his career — and his first-round victory was met with emotional scenes as he was hailed by the crowd.

Norrie will once again be left feeling friendless when he tries to snuff out one of the tournament’s developing human interest stories.

NOvAK Djokovic will not be sanctioned for his latest political pronouncement about Kosovo, with French Open chiefs saying that such commentary from players is ‘understandable’. On Monday, following his first-round match, Djokovic scribbled on a courtside camera lens: ‘Kosovo is the heart of Serbia! Stop the violence.’ His message came amid rising tensions and outbreaks of rioting in the territory, whose independence Serbia does not recognise.

“He never said anything to me or apologised”