Tennis|Novak Djokovic"s Latest Opponent in His French Open Quest? His Temper

Novak Djokovic Practice For The Final - Roland Garros 2016

After squandering that opportunity with a unforced forehand error, he swiped his racket at the clay in frustration. It struck the ground and flew backward not Djokovics intent at considerable speed, missing a linesman by a small margin after he twisted away from its flight path.

Oh, I was very nervous, Vajda said of the tossed racket. Oh my gosh, I dont know why he did it. Im not very happy about this. It could turn to be not good for him.

Players have been defaulted on the spot for hitting officials or ball people with rackets or b***s: Tim Henman during a doubles match at Wimbledon in 1995; Richard Gasquet during qualifying at the 2004 United States Open. David Nalbandian was disqualified during the final at Queens Club in 2012 after kicking an advertising board into a line judges leg.

Photo Dominic Thiem, 22, defeated David Goffin to advance to his first Grand Slam semifinal. Credit Caroline Blumberg/European Pressphoto Agency

There are no automatic defaults, said Stefan Fransson, the French Open tournament referee. The decision is made based on each different situation.

The players intent and the consequences are part of the decision-making equation, but supervisors made it clear on Thursday that if a player hit an official with a thrown racket and caused an injury, there would be a default.

The bottom line: Djokovic was lucky, very lucky, even if he was not much in the mood to dwell on it after his 11th straight victory over Berdych.

Asked if he realized how close he had come to hitting the line judge, Djokovic answered: I mean, its obvious what I tried to do. I dont understand your question. I threw a racket on the ground, and it slipped and almost hit the line umpire. I was lucky there. Thats all.

Anger management has been an issue for Djokovic of late. He remains the worlds dominant player by a wide margin, but it has been a challenging clay-court season, one in which he has sometimes snapped with little warning. In Rome last month, he pushed the chair umpire Carlos Bernardess arm out of the way as they were examining a ball mark on the clay (and received no penalty from the ATP). In the final against Andy Murray, a match Djokovic would go on to lose, he also flung his racket in frustration after losing his serve in the fourth game. It ended up bouncing into the stands.

No wonder Vajda wants to tape the grip to Djokovics hand.

When asked about the Rome and Roland Garros incidents, Djokovic said: Im just not thinking about those kind of situations. I am aware that I have been lucky, and I apologized to, you know, to people that have been in this particular situation with me and that could have been hurt by my racket. But, you know, it was never the intention. It was just some unfortunate bounce, but fortunate ending of that scenario.

Todays top players are mild-mannered compared to some combustible champions of the past; see Ilie Nastase, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. But Djokovics recent behavior could also be a reflection of the pressure he is feeling as his latest great chance at winning the French Open comes into clearer focus.

Vajda, the good-humored Slovakian who has been a key figure in Djokovics rise, understands the situation, but likes Djokovics chances.

Its more mental, he said. I think he has to refocus even more, and I hope he can find it. Hes fine so far, but this is getting closer, and he might be worse. So he has to stay calm and take it as a positive as he can, just be there in the match, just try to be present, which is tough. But he can do it.

Djokovic certainly recovered his composure quickly on Thursday, despite hearing a few disapproving whistles and boos from the French Open crowd that he has worked so hard to win over through the years. He went on to break Berdych in the game in which he threw his racket.

When tournament officials briefly stopped play with the drizzle intensifying at 3-3 in the third set, Djokovic quickly packed his bags and marched off court while Berdych fumed, maintaining that the conditions had not changed enough to warrant a stoppage.

This is an absolute circus; one big circus! he said to the supervisor, Wayne McEwen.

Berdych would not win another game after they resumed play less than 15 minutes later.

They are relying on someone who is closed in little room and saying that hes a meteorologist, and hes predicting whats going to happen or not, Berdych said later.

It has been a Drench Open, with the rainiest May in Paris since 1873. But it is the homestretch in June that has been the stumbling block for Djokovic, who has lost in three of the last four French Open finals.

He will have a huge edge in experience against Thiem, who advanced with a 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-1 quarterfinal victory over David Goffin. Thiem had never been past the fourth round at a major until now.

Djokovic won their two previous matches in straight sets, but both were on hardcourts. Thiem, who is seeded 13th and will break into the top 10 for the first time next week, is at his most dangerous on clay.

Hes playing the best tennis of his life, no doubt about it, Djokovic said.

Thiem is coached by Gunter Bresnik, a fellow Austrian who once worked with Boris Becker, the three-time Wimbledon champion. With Becker part of Djokovics coaching team, Fridays match will also be about Becker versus his former mentor.

With the rain playing nasty tricks on this years schedule, Friday will be the fourth straight day of singles play for Djokovic and Thiem. In the bottom half of the draw, Murray and Stan Wawrinka, who will meet in Fridays other semifinal, had Thursday off.

But Djokovic, a tightly wound man of late, was able to conserve precious resources by defeating Berdych in straight sets.

Very important, Vajda said. To save the energy and to save the best for tomorrow.

But the physical challenge is surely not the biggest challenge at this stage, not in his 12th visit to the French Open. There seems to be no point in Djokovic and his team trying to ignore the elephant in the room.

Exactly, Vajda said. Elephant in the room. Good one.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-dominic-thiem-french-open.html