Tag boy of tennis

US Open is the dignity-swerving slam where tennis bad boys thrive

Purely in terms of tournament sass, it was predictable Novak Djokovic would be booed off court after retiring from injury at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday night after once again deciding to graciously gift an opponent a win. The US Open is operating at Liberace levels of theatrics and is highly watchable for it. Djokovic had already sworn at the crowd and threatened a spectator during one practice session. “I’ll come to find you after the match,” he glowered. “Trust me, I’ll come to find you.” Retweeting the footage, Nick Kyrgios added the words “I’m scared” and an emoji suggesting quite the opposite. When Djokovic was asked why he would be hunting down the spectator, he replied, his face deadpan: “To have a drink … I’m going to buy him a drink.” So yes, if you are having trouble characterizing your tennis grand slams, this one is the messy bitch who lives for the drama. Think of the US Open as Real Househusbands of the PTA, with all the histrionics you would expect from the dignity-swerving reality franchise. It is very much the only tournament at which Roger Federer could find himself saying “shit” in…

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