Rafael Nadal thinks Novak Djokovic's Olympics outburst was 'strange'

Novak Djokovic is not proud of his outbursts at the Olympics that also left one of his colleagues perplexed.

Djokovic lost his bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta in three sets in the men’s singles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Then he withdrew from the mixed doubles event too.

Upset over failing to take advantage of a break point in the third set, Djokovic smashed his racket.

“I don’t like doing these things, I’m sorry for sending this kind of message, but we’re all human beings and sometimes it’s hard to control,” Djokovic later said.

Djokovic has won 20 grand slam events, which ties him for the most ever with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Nadal spoke about Djokovic’s behavior and said it was not ideal. The Spaniard was happy no fans were around for the outburst.

Nadal also called it strange that Djokovic behaves in that manner.

“It’s strange that someone so successful reacts this way from time to time, but in the end he’s very competitive and reacts like that.”

English is not Nadal’s first language, so maybe he didn’t mean to take a shot Djokovic the way the wording comes across. But it’s clear he questions Djokovic’s inability to control his emotions at times during matches.

Djokovic has a history of such outbursts. The 34-year-old smashed his racket in anger during the Australian Open earlier this year. He was also infamously disqualified from the US Open last year after he hit a ball in frustration and it inadvertently struck a line judge. You can see the video of that incident here.