{"id":795787,"date":"2026-07-11T21:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T21:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/795787\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T21:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T21:28:14","slug":"andre-agassi-believes-novak-djokovics-gesture-to-jannik-sinner-reveals-a-problem-tennis-has-ignored-for-years-international-sports-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/795787\/","title":{"rendered":"Andre Agassi believes Novak Djokovic\u2019s gesture to Jannik Sinner reveals a problem tennis has ignored for years | International Sports News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AndreAndre Agassi (Image Via Getty) A small moment during the Wimbledon<\/a> semifinal between Novak Djokovic<\/a> and Jannik Sinner led to a much bigger debate about one of tennis\u2019 oldest habits. After Djokovic won a point with help from the net cord, he immediately raised his hand to apologize to Sinner, something players have done for years. Watching from the BBC commentary box, Andre Agassi questioned whether the tradition still makes sense. The eight-time Grand Slam champion argued that players should stop apologizing for lucky net-cord winners because, in his view, it is unnecessary and one-sided.<\/p>\n

Andre Agassi explains why Novak Djokovic\u2019s apology to Jannik Sinner should not be part of tennis<\/p>\n

The discussion began after Djokovic\u2019s shot clipped the top of the net and dropped on Sinner\u2019s side for a winner. As expected, Djokovic raised his hand in apology.Agassi did not agree with the gesture. Speaking on BBC One, he said, \u201cAndrew, can we please rally to get rid of that \u2018I apologize for hitting the net cord\u2019? I really would love to see that leave the game.\u201dHe then explained why he believes the tradition no longer fits modern tennis.\u201cThat\u2019s just my personal opinion, sorry for digressing. If you hit the net cord and it doesn\u2019t go over, I don\u2019t see the other person apologizing: \u2018Bad luck, it didn\u2019t get over\u2019.\u201dFor Agassi, the problem is simple. Players apologize only when the ball lands in their favor. If the ball touches the net and falls back on their own side, nobody apologizes to the opponent. He believes the custom has become more of a habit than a genuine expression of regret.His comments also reflected his long history of questioning tennis traditions. Early in his career, Agassi openly challenged Wimbledon\u2019s strict rules, including its famous all-white dress code. He even skipped the tournament from 1988 to 1990 because he disagreed with several of its traditions.Speaking on ITV\u2019s This Morning in 2017, Agassi looked back on that period and said, \u201cI was a rebel. That\u2019s what I was. I went through my teenage rebellion, and I took issue with any rules that were imposed on this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob Bryan, Simona Halep and Steve Johnson have also questioned the net cord apology<\/p>\n

Agassi is not the only player who feels the tradition deserves another look. Several current and former professionals have admitted that the apology is mostly about following an unwritten rule rather than expressing real regret.Former doubles world No. 1 Bob Bryan once said players are \u201cnever sorry\u201d after winning a point from the net cord because they are actually happy to get the lucky break.Former Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova compared the gesture to everyday politeness. She said it is similar to someone asking, \u201cHow are you?\u201d without expecting a detailed answer. In her view, players raise a hand simply because it has become part of tennis etiquette.Simona Halep has also admitted that she finds the tradition uncomfortable. She once said, \u201cI was taught as a kid that you have to say sorry. I\u2019ve thought about this, and I don\u2019t really think it\u2019s fair; you\u2019re happy you won the point.\u201dFormer American player Steve Johnson shared a similar opinion, saying he only apologizes when playing close friends. Otherwise, he believes lucky net cords are simply part of the sport.Still, not everyone agrees with ending the custom. During the 2018 Miami Open, Daniil Medvedev criticized Stefanos Tsitsipas for not apologizing after a net-cord winner. That moment showed how deeply the tradition remains part of tennis, even if some of the sport\u2019s biggest names believe it is time for a change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andre Agassi (Image Via Getty) A small moment during the Wimbledon semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[25088,49,48,615,280607,2083,280606,82,593,280608,280609,614],"class_list":["post-795787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-andre-agassi","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-net-cord-apology","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-simona-halep","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-etiquette","tag-tennis-traditions","tag-wimbledon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}