Watch: Djokovic Breaks String but Comically Doesn’t Realize it in Rome

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Watch: Djokovic Breaks String but Comically Doesn’t Realize it in Rome

It was one of those days for world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. First he whacked his ankle with his racquet and drew blood, then he nearly hit a ballkid with an errant return and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct reprimand. But this strange interlude in the third set takes the cake. Watch as Djokovic shanks a forehand to give Kei Nishikori a break point and suspects that the ball is broken.

He asks for the ball and when he checks it he realizes it is fine and starts to prepare to serve. What Djokovic doesn’t realize is that his string was broken on the previous point. Luckily Mohamed Lahyani was nice enough to warn him, LOUDLY.

Djokovic cracks a big, embarrassed smile when he looks down to see his mangled stringbed, while Nishikori, likely nonplussed that Djokovic received help from the umpire, wears a puzzled, angry visage.

Novak had the broken string, Nishikori got the break a few points later, and Djokovic won the match, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), to reach the final.

What a long (3:01), strange trip it was.

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