Roger Federer has gone down in tennis history not only for his ability, but also for his grace and elegance on the court.
Smashing rackets was a rarity from the Swiss legend, who won 20 Grand Slam titles and reached world number one during his phenomenal career.
Federer briefly returned to the court at this year’s Australian Open, where he played in an exhibition alongside a handful of fellow legends.
The friendly nature of that contest comes in stark contrast to the ongoing intense drama at the Grand Slam, which is now into its latter stages.
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Roger Federer didn’t feel good after smashing his racket at Miami 2009
WTA star Coco Gauff highlighted the tension perfectly following her exit, smashing her racket en route to the locker room after losing her quarterfinal with Elina Svitolina.
Gauff waited until she was off court in order to avoid attention to the matter, but Federer did no such thing in one of his encounters with Novak Djokovic.
Frustrated during their 2009 semifinal in Miami, the Swiss ace launched his racket into the court, rendering it completely unusable before throwing it to one side.
He went on to lose the match, and when asked afterwards if his racket smash felt good, he said: “Not really. Not really.”
Federer was then reminded that he rarely behaved that way on court, and was subsequently asked what was different about that particular match that he “lost it”.
He replied: “I didn’t lose it. I was just frustrated. Just because I smashed the racket doesn’t mean I lose it. Didn’t feel great. Didn’t feel… it’s just a natural thing I did.”
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Novak Djokovic noticed ‘obvious frustration’ with Roger Federer’s racket smash
Unsurprisingly, Djokovic was asked about the incident post-match, having also been told that Federer more often than not is able to control his emotions.
The Serbian commented: “Look, it’s obvious frustration. I think he can answer better why he did it. I just tried to keep my focus.
“I was on a roll in this period of the match, so I just tried to continue on playing patiently and win the match.”
Djokovic certainly didn’t let the incident distract him, with the Serbian coming from behind to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
He did, however, go on to lose the final in Miami that year, losing 6-2, 7-5 to his future coach Andy Murray.
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