'I'm not perfect,' says Djokovic after losing cool at Italian Open

Less than two weeks after being disqualified from the US Open, Novak Djokovic's frustration boiled over once again as he smashed his racket in a fit of rage during the Italian Open quarter-finals.

He had defeated Dominik Koepfer 6-3 4-6 6-3  on Saturday.

The top-ranked Serb was broken to love in the sixth game of the second set following which he threw his racket on the ground, drawing a warning from the chair umpire.

“Well, let me tell you it’s not the first nor the last racket that I’ll break in my career,” Djokovic told reporters. “I have done it before, I’ll probably do it again. I don’t want to do it, but when it comes, it happens.

“That’s how I guess I release sometimes my anger. And it’s definitely not the best message out there, especially for the young tennis players looking at me.

“I don’t encourage that, definitely. But, look, we’re all people. We all do our best. There were times and periods when I don’t do that, and there are periods when I do,” he said.