Djokovic admits he was lucky to avoid French Open disqualification

World number one Novak Djokovic has admitted that he was lucky not to have been disqualified from the French Open for his on-court antics during his straight-sets win over Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinal contest on Thursday.

Enraged over missing a break point, the Serbian went on to smash his racquet into the ground but it slipped out of his hand before nearly hitting a line judge. Djokovic's hopes of clinching the elusive title in Paris would have come to an embarrassing end if the judge had not moved to avoid his flying racquet.

The tennis ace soon offered an apology to chair umpire Eva Asederaki and escaped with a warning, Sport24 reported.

Djokovic eventually won the rain-interrupted match 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 to reach his 30th Grand Slam semi-final. He will next take on Dominic Thiem after the Austrian downed Belgian David Goffin in four sets.