Beware the fans, Novak Djokovic

Sports stars and sports fans. Most of the time the relationship works just fine – the former entertain and amaze and the latter stay in their seats and applaud politely.

From time to time, however, things get a little too close for comfort, as poor Novak Djokovic learned this week. A group of rather-too-excited young tennis enthusiasts injured their hero as he was signing autographs at the Hopman Cup in Perth, by knocking down a hefty barrier that cracked into the Serb star’s leg.

Thankfully, Djokovic was OK, but he learned a salutary lesson – beware the fans. They can be volatile (as QPR discovered when the squad clashed with its own supporters after a defeat last March), they can get in the way (Bradley Wiggins at the Olympics) and sometimes, wilfully or not, they may hurt you.

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