Novak Djokovic angrily smashed a racket during his Geneva Open quarterfinal against Matteo Arnaldi and later funnily states that it helped him find his “optimal state and balance mentally.”
After losing to the Italian in Madrid last April, the Serb made a good start in Geneva and won the opening set of their match. But then early in the second set, the former world No. 1 played a very bad game and got broken in the fourth game. Moments after falling 1-3 down, the record 24-time Grand Slam champion obliterated his racket
When the match resumed, Arnaldi served out the fifth game to go 4-1 up. From that moment on, it was all Djokovic as the No. 2 seed won the next five games to complete a 6-4 6-4 win and progress into the semifinal.
Djokovic on his win and destroying the racket
“I think I’m playing really, really good tennis. Today [there] was a lot of tension on the court. Straight-set win, but it was much closer than maybe the score indicates. Yeah, I was 4-1 down in the second and somehow, I don’t know, after that racket breaking (smiling), I didn’t lose the game and kind of found my, I guess, optimal state and balance mentally and emotionally to really be able to play the best tennis when it was most needed. So hopefully I can carry that into tomorrow,” Djokovic explained