Andy Murray has taken a surprise shot at rival Novak Djokovic after an old clip of the Serbian smashing a forehand into the body of Roger Federer. It was back in 2014 when Djokovic was going toe-to-toe with Federer at the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
Tennis TV posted the clip with nine-year anniversary of that match coming up, asking whether it was a ‘legitimate play’ from Djokovic.
And Murray chimed in with his own view on the matter with a small dig at Djokovic for not reacting like Federer when the same happened to him.
“Totally legitimate play. Great shot,” Murray replied on Instagram.
“However when Rafa clocked him in Canada and Norrie in Rome he reacted like ‘how dare you?'”
The incident between Djokovic and Nadal happened at the 2013 Canadian Open with the match in the third and deciding set.
Both players raced to the net with Nadal hitting a backhand into the body of Djokovic with the Spaniard immediately apologising.
However, Djokovic was having none of it as he turned away in disgust seemingly rejecting Nadal’s apology.
A similar incident happened at the French Open this year in the quarter-finals when Cameron Norrie faced off against Djokovic.
The Serb was a set and a break up but Norrie had a chance to strike back in the fourth game when his opponent mishit a forehand.
The ball flew into the air on Norrie’s side of the net with Djokovic turning his back on the Brit having given up on the point.
Norrie was seemingly unaware that Djokovic had given up and still smashed his effort back over the net, inadvertently hitting the tennis icon on the legs.
The British No 1 held his hands up to apologise immediately after, but Djokovic wanted a word as he approached the net.
Norrie was not forthcoming, adding to Djokovic’s frustrations even further who was still upset over the incident after the match.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner moaned: “He’s allowed to take a medical timeout. He’s allowed to hit a player. He’s allowed to say: ‘C’mon in the face’ more or less every single point from basically the first game.”
