Yes, according to some Serbian social media portals and forum posts. No, according to the rest of us.
During the third set of the semifinal match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the Rogers Cup, Rafa pegged Novak in the face. Rafa immediately approached the net and apologized, but the apology was not accepted.
Folks in forums and on social media like to speculate, but they should know that these things happen. It’s always entertaining to read these conspiracy theories, as long as no one gets hurt. However, it’s sad to see fans of a player jumping on every incident to discredit his opponent, thereby dragging their own idol down.
But what do the rest of you think? Watch the video and post your comments below.
Is obvious it wasn’t on purpose, Rafa is a gentleman and Novak knows it
Are you serious? If you think this was on purpose then there is something wrong with you. Even if it was intentional, it’s not like you aren’t supposed to do that. You do what you need to do to win and if you’re a pro tennis player then you have to know stuff like this will happen.
I am not agree wit that,cos Rafa is not like that,and is not a big deal
it’s not on purpose ..he said sorry he is mad what a PLAYER NOVAK……he is mad losser…BE SPORT NOVAK….as you are the no 1 in the WORLD you must have respect as Rafa always respect all the players…God Bless
of course it wasn`t on purpose…Novak was just mad that he was losing..Rafa is not that kind of person
To be commenting if this shot was on purpose is already ridiculous. It’s so ridiculous that makes me laugh. Djokovic knows perfectly well that Rafa didn’t do it on purpose. And if he didn’t want to accept the apologies is for another reason. He was mad because he saw himself losing.
i couldn’t agree more, it wasn’t intentional. if you keep reviewing the video you would know Rafa hit the ball to return but didn’t know it would hit Novak in the face. It’s just that Novak was late returning the fast ball.
No it happened accidently . During the heat of a match and depending on the returns and postioning of both players this can happen and it happened accidently.Rafa was just returning a shot and he did apologies right after the shot. This can happen when you are playing close up to the net and both players were in close and Rafa was running up to return the shot and it just happened. Was not intetional because Rafa is to professional and prideful to want to hit any player not just Djokovic.
I can’t believe people would even think that Rafa will deliberately pick that timing to hit djoko.seriously need professional tennis to say something than random wrong and dumb interpretations! It was as simple as djoko frozen standing on the net and rafa hitting the ball as he plays forward.seriously!
It was just showing true colors of Novak…..He is such a fake to tell it bluntly….And those unguarded moments always show the real person in you…He knew it could always happen in tennis and not accepting Rafa’s apology right there and then just show his unsportsmanship….And , yah, the good always prevails !!!!!
exactly what I thought. djoko’s father kept bragging about his son’s sportsmanlike behavior lashing at Federer and Rafa but the truth is they are a family of arrogant people. this is why I never liked Djoko even if he is winning and is number one in paper. to me, he doesn’t deserve to be called sportsmanlike. the behavior he showed last night just revealed his true color. he is ARROGANT! too bad.
I totally agree!! The Djoker is all fun and games as long as he is winning! When the tables turn he turns into the arrogant, spoiled brat that he is. Not accepting Rafa’s heartfelt apology just shows what an unsportsmanlike player the Djoker actually is. His father said he always accepts defeat gracefully ; that sure wasn’t what Ii saw last night . He sulked off the court, making no eye contact with Rafa when he tried to shake hands at the end. We sure didn’t see him doing his “spotlight on me” celebratory dance last night ,did we?
It was a complete accident and rafa did the right thing and apologised straight away. It isn’t his fault that novak was stupid enough not to accept this. I can’t believe that people honestly think that rafa would do it on purpose, rafa was concentrating on winning the point, not on hitting novak. Novak was unprofessional and rafa was the complete opposite to him. Vamos Rafa!
Para nada fue intencional Rafa solo estava jugando y muy profecionalmente…dejando mucho que decir del oponente , maleducado, arrogante y orgulloso ni se hacerco a Rafa …que inocente se hacerca a pedir disculpas y ni le hace caso…que malas actitudes…Rafa adelante siempre dando catedra de calidad de gente y sobre todo campeon.
Shot of that strength was only going out, and since Rafa’s not someone who’d not be able to judge that, yeah the attempt was calculated and on purpose. Djokovic’s fault was that he didn’t expect that and took a better stance, not for not immediatelly accepting an apology. If it’s on purpose don’t apologize just be the stinker that you are…if you like such contact sports also learn to love ufc and bull fighting…oh, wait, you probably do!
What an arrogant Poor Sport! No class Novak, you’re a “joke”!
For those who play tennis, u can understand that it is practically impossible to hit your opponent in the face while running from the baseline towards the net to hit a volley. Rafa is a gentlemen. He doesn’t use such evil things to win. And how far the behavior is mentioned, everybody know Rafa. He doesn’t smash racquets on the ground, doesn’t abuses the crowd and doesn’t lose his mind on court. And we know who do all these things.
It’s Novak who do it on purpose to let Nadal hit his face because Novak knew that he can not win against Nadal on this match. It’s Novaks fault at all.
I don’t think so. It’s an approach shot by Nadal. Nothing irregular in his moves.
G’ee. what is all the fuss about?!!! Djokovic looked like he (his mind) wasn’t even in the game? Rafa you’re a good sport … and you’re talking to someone who’s lived through the McEnroe era!
Rafa didn’t mean to hit Novak at all!!!! He was just hitting the ball back and accidently, it hit Novak on the face.
These things happen…i don t thing rafa did this on purpose…nole should have accepted rafa’s apology…even if he did it on purpose,something that i don t believe, it s something that can happen during an important point…
¿Y el show de la lentilla de Nole , de milagro que no lo hizo?
Nadal perfecto comportamiento, un Caballero.
Nole está demasiado consentido para darse cuenta de lo que es correcto y ético y de lo que no..