Novak Djokovic had played almost a thousand tennis matches, yet the Serbian has discovered that he can still amaze himself.
Following hitting a funny error in his match at the Tel Aviv Open on Friday.
The 35-year-old made a humorous blunder concerning the ballboys during his quarterfinal match against Vasek Pospisil.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion was put up to lose to a Canadian rival.
the opportunity to serve for the match at 5-3 when he made the crucial breakthrough in the second.
But for a brief time, Djokovic appeared to forget that players only switch ends,
after every two games and when the overall number of games is odd.
He went for his seat to get some fluids even though there had only been eight games played and not nine.
He only realized his mistake when he motioned to the ballboys to transfer the balls to his area of the floor.
The seasoned tennis player then realized his error in judgment after asking the umpire for an explanation.
After a brief pause, Djokovic stood up and slinkingly made his way to the baseline to deliver his serve.
As soon as the Tel Aviv crowd realized what had happened, there was a raucous chorus of shouts and chuckles.
“Vasek is one of my best friends on the Tour“: Novak Djokovic
After dropping his first two points, it appeared briefly like Djokovic could have been shaken by the situation.
However, he quickly bounced back and won the game 7-6 (5), 6-3.
By beating 149th-ranked Pospisil with a superb winner during a 23-stroke rally to go to the championship’s last four.
Djokovic thanked Pospisil, a “close friend,” for helping him together all way and commended the 32-year-old for persevering to the finish:
“Vasek is one of my best friends on the Tour. We have known each other for many years,”
In his post-game interview, he said.
“It is never easy playing someone you respect so much and like so much, but we are both professionals and wanted to win the match and you can see that.
“I think the level of tennis was really high. Especially towards the end of the first set and the second set. Credit to him for fighting. Great to see him back.”
On Saturday, Djokovic will play against Romain Safiullin in the semifinals.
Had never before his career faced the 25-year-old.
The Russian is now rated 104th in the ATP Ranking and seventh overall. To reach the final in Israel, Djokovic will be the overwhelming favorite.
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