Djokovic is recovering from the incident after winning the Italian Open

ROME – Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after he was accidentally hit in the head by a water bottle following a win at the Italian Open on Friday.

A man was leaning over the railing to hand Djokovic a notebook for a signature when an aluminum water bottle fell from his backpack and hit the top player in the head.

After being hit, Djokovic placed both hands on his head and then curled up on the floor while a security guard protected him. He was then helped through the tunnel to the locker room.

Djokovic had a bump on his head and was examined by doctors, tournament organizers said. He didn’t hold his usual postgame press conference.

“As Novak Djokovic left Center Court after his match, he was hit in the head with a water bottle while signing autographs. He received medical attention and has already left the Foro Italico to return to his hotel. His condition does not cause concern,” organizers said in a statement.

Djokovic had some blood on his head but did not require stitches, said Alessandro Catapano, spokesman for the Italian tennis federation.

“Nole was taken to his hotel and appears to be fine. He was upset, but he seemed fine,” Catapano said. “We are very upset about what happened and we are trying to find out who did it and understand the dynamics.”

“The police came and asked for information, but the person who did this had already left,” Catapano added. “We are going through all the video and camera angles to find out exactly what happened.”

The incident occurred shortly after Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-1 victory over French qualifier Corentin Moutet in his opening match.

Djokovic took a while to get going in his first match in almost a month, but he cleaned up his game after losing his first two service games.

“I haven’t practiced with a left-handed player for a while, so it took me some time to get used to the different rotation of the balls,” Djokovic said. “The first four games were pretty bad for me… but then I played well.”

The top-ranked Djokovic had not played since his loss to Casper Ruud in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters on April 13. The 24-time Grand Slam champion is without a title this year – the first time he has reached May without a trophy since 2018, when he returned from a right elbow injury.

But Rome, where he is a six-time champion, is one of Djokovic’s favorite tournaments. Here, Djokovic is also trying to improve his game on clay before attempting to defend his title at the French Open, which begins on May 26.

Djokovic scored 21 game-winning goals to Moutet’s 13 and made 13 unforced errors to his opponent’s 20. Djokovic showed his willingness to move forward, winning 18 of 22 points at the net.

“Corentin is a very talented player. He has great hands and is very unpredictable. You don’t know what’s coming next. So I had to stay focused, which I did,” Djokovic said. “So it’s a good opening game.”

In the first game of the second set, the alarm on Moutet’s phone started ringing, prompting him to run over and grab it from his pocket. He jokingly held the phone to his ear as if answering a call, drawing laughter from the crowd and a smile from Djokovic. The 83rd-ranked Frenchman then raised his arms to apologize for the interruption.

Djokovic improved to 18-0 in his opening games in Rome. He will next face 29th seed Alejandro Tabilo.

The ten-time record champion of Rome, Rafael Nadal, is in the other half of the draw.

Second-round games also saw Rome 2017 winner Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and Ben Shelton advance, while Nuno Borges eliminated 15th-seeded Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-4.

Lorenzo Musetti retired after losing the first set to French qualifier Terence Atmane due to a gastrointestinal infection, leaving hosts Italy without three major players. Jannik Sinner withdrew before the tournament with a hip injury and Matteo Berrettini withdrew on Wednesday after a series of physical problems.

In the women’s tournament, defending champion Elena Rybakina withdrew due to illness before her opening game against Irina-Camelia Begu.

“Unfortunately I don’t feel good enough to compete,” said fourth-placed Rybakina. “I have such good memories of last year and was looking forward to defending my title.”

Sofia Kenin eliminated eighth seed Ons Jabeur 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, while Maria Sakkari, Jelena Ostapenko and Danielle Collins each advanced.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.