A LUCKY fan has told of how Novak Djokovic gifted him his smashed racket following his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.
With the score tied up going into the fifth set, Alcaraz managed to break Djokovic’s serve, leaving the Serb fuming.
This Wimbledon superfan was gifted Djokovic’s smashed racket
He has attended the last 23 Wimbledon finals in a row
Djokovic smashed his racket in a fit of rage
Djokovic proceeded to then smash his racket against the post of the net in a fit of rage.
And a lucky fan was able to secure the iconic piece of memorabilia – which may come to represent the changing of the guard from Djokovic to Alcaraz.
The Serbian fan, named Milan, spoke to the BBC after the final.
He said: “I’ve lived in London for the last 23 or so years.
“This is my 23rd Wimbledon final, in a row.
“This is the racket Djokovic smashed.
“He was supposed to win 2-0 in the fifth set to break Alcaraz.
Suddenly he lost that one, Alcaraz broke him and it was 2-1.
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“Novak was angry and he just smashed it.
“After the end of the game I simply asked Novak ‘Can I have your broken racket?'”
“He said: ‘Yeah, why not?
“And he just gave it to me.”
It wasn’t Djokovic’s only controversy of the final as he was also punished for a time violation after taking too long to serve during the second set.
After the match, Djokovic was asked about his conduct throughout the game – which saw him clash with umpire Fergus Murphy.
He said: “There’s not much to talk about that,
“Second one was frustration. I had break points in the second game.
“Yeah, just tough, tough couple of points.
“He played amazing to break my serve, which was enough to win the fifth.
“The first one was the time violation, so yeah. Not a great moment again, but you just kind of have to accept it.”
When he was asked specifically about destroying his racket, 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.”
Djokovic was fined £6,117 by the All England Club for his “racket abuse” in his defeat to Alcaraz.
