World No. 1 arrives in Rome ready for action after near beaning from fan’s fallen bottle. 
Supreme problem-solver Novak Djokovic took a heads up approach to his Rome return.
The world No. 1 was nearly beaned by a water bottle that fell from a fan’s bag yesterday.
Today, Djokovic showed creative response.
“Today, I came prepared,” Djokovic captioned video of him sporting a bicycle helmet over his trademark baseball cap for protection as he walked onto the tournament grounds to sign autographs for fans.
The Grand Slam king showed a sense of humor hours after this scary scene as he departed court.
New angle, all clear now, Novak is fine 👇 pic.twitter.com/LWhhpTN0DY
— Saša Ozmo (@ozmo_sasa) May 10, 2024
Of course, Djokovic famously celebrated Halloween in Paris years back by masking up as Darth Vader.
We shall see if Djokovic sports any protective headgear when he takes Court Centrale tomorrow against world No. 32 Alejandro Tabilo.
Will we see the Serbian superstar sporting full Roman gladiator helmet? Something more flexible like a catcher’s mask or a beekeeper’s helmet?
As world No. 1, Djokovic is accustomed to looking over his shoulder at the rest of the ATP pack chasing him. After the near-miss in Rome yesterday, he may well spend some time looking up too.
Photo credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty