The Serbian must pay $8,000 (£6,117) after angrily walloping his racket against the net post during a crucial stage of the deciding fifth set on Centre Court, having wasted his own break opportunity and then seen his own serve broken during a pivotal sequence in an unforgettable match that lasted for almost five hours.
The racket was left a twisted mess as a frustrated Djokovic’s fury drew boos from the crowd at the All England Club and earned him a code violation from nearby chair umpire Fergus Murphy, with the 23-time Grand Slam winner having also earlier received a time violation for taking too long to serve.
Djokovic has now been slapped with a fine for “racket abuse” by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), despite playing down the incident in the immediate aftermath of his 6-1, 6-7, 1-6, 6-3, 4-6 loss in an all-time classic final.
Furious outburst: Angry Novak Djokovic smashes his racket during the Wimbledon final
/ BBC“There’s not much to talk about that,” he said. “[It] was frustration. I had break points in the second game. Yeah, just a tough, tough couple of points.
“He played amazing to break my serve, which was enough to win the fifth [set].”
Pressed on the incident again in the same press conference, a tetchy Djokovic said: “It was a frustration in the moment.
“I answered to your colleague two minutes ago about that. There’s not much to say about that.”
The defeat to Alcaraz marked the first time in a decade that the dominant Djokovic has lost on Centre Court at Wimbledon, while he also missed out on the chance to finally go on and complete a calendar Grand Slam after victories at the Australian Open and French Open already this year.
Wimbledon 2023 | Novak Djokovic
The 36-year-old, who had not failed to win at SW19 since 2017, will also have to wait to match great rival Roger Federer’s record haul of eight Wimbledon titles, while he remains one behind Margaret Court’s all-time leading mark of 24 Grand Slam triumphs ahead of the US Open, which starts at Flushing Meadows in New York next month with Alcaraz the defending men’s champion.