There’s the retro, thrill-seeking exploit of sneaking a note to your crush in class. Then there’s smuggling a message to the world’s most famous tennis player during a match under the gaze of 14,000 spectators and a worldwide TV audience.
In both cases, whether by a hawkish teacher or a TikToker’s phone camera, you’re likely to get busted.
A viral TikTok shows a member of Novak Djokovic’s team passing a water bottle to ATP tour supervisor Gerry Armstrong during the Serbian’s second-round defeat of Enzo Couacaud at the Australian Open on Thursday.
A paper note is attached to the bottle, and the alleged message is smuggled across court by the unwitting mule into Djokovic’s outstretched hand during a changeover.
Footage of the incident, accompanied by the Mission Impossible theme, clocked 1.5 million views on TikTok as speculation swirled over the contents of the note.
Was it the final piece of coaching advice Djokovic needed to vanquish his opponent in four sets? Or simply information about whatever brew his team had parachuted onto court, like a kindly sponsor in The Hunger Games?
New coaching rules at the Australian Open allow for verbal on-court coaching, but only if players and coaches are on the same side of the court. Signals and gestures are allowed if players are on the other side of court. The legality of sodden, smuggled paper notes under the new rules is unclear.
Novak Djokovic went on to beat Enzo Couacaud in four sets.Credit:AP
Given the brazen nature of the operation, it’s unlikely Team Djokovic were knowingly breaching any rules.
But it does mark the second time recently that Djokovic has found himself at the centre of controversy thanks to a water bottle.
In November, Djokovic’s physiotherapist Ulises Badio was filmed preparing a mysterious elixir – while other members of the player’s entourage shifted to block the camera’s view – before passing the bottle to a ballkid for delivery to Djokovic. The Serbian later mysteriously referred to the drink as a “magic potion”.
The speculation grew so hot that Djokovic’s wife stepped in to insist that nothing “dodgy” was afoot. Australian tennis star John Millman also poured cold water on the incident, point out that supplements and drink contents were often kept secret between rivals.
“Inside a locker room you see a players team always making drinks, in unmarked bottles and put in the fridge. Training programs, supplement intake etc is trade secret.”
