Novak Djokovic on ‘shoe touching’ incident: ‘I am sorry if I offended him or anybody else’

Shahida Jacobs
February 3, 2020

Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic has apologised to chair umpire Damien Dumusois following his run-in with the official during the final against Dominic Thiem.

En route to winning his eighth title at Melbourne Park and 17th Grand Slam trophy, Djokovic lost his cool during a tight second set.

He was given two time violations and the second one really set him off as he told Dumusois “you made yourself a mark in this match, great job, man, especially on the second one”.

“You made yourself famous… well done.” Novak Djokovic continue his rampage as he pats the umpire’s foot after a time violation. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/jmcOjaBB4I

— Christine Vanden Byllaardt (@cvbyllaardt) February 2, 2020

There were suggestions after the match that the Serb could receive a fine for touching the official, but Djokovic made light of it during the post-match press conference, saying: “For touching his shoe? I mean, I didn’t know that’s completely forbidden.”

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However, he did apologise on Monday during the trophy parade in Melbourne.

“In a professional sport, things happen that you are obviously not proud of. Sometimes there are things you are not happy with and you go through the different emotions, you go through ups and downs,” he said.

“Of course, [I am] not happy that I touched the chair umpire. I am sorry if I offended him or anybody else, but in the heat of the battle some of the decisions that he made, or something that happens just distracts you and sets you off. I just tried to re-centre myself and it all ended up well for me.

“Hopefully people in the stadium and the ones that watched enjoyed the battle.”

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Novak Djokovic