"Asking so much after waiting 20 hours?" - Novak Djokovic gets into argument with chair umpire at French Open over lack of clean-up
World No. 1, Novak Djokovic overcame a tough challenge from Lorenzo Musetti to secure his place in the fourth round of the French Open. However, the Serb also drew attention for arguing with the chair umpire as he raised concerns about the lack of cleanliness on the court.
Lorenzo Musetti put up a tough fight against Novak Djokovic in their third-round clash. Although Djokovic narrowly won the first set 7-5, Musetti challenged the Serb in an intensely competitive second set, eventually taking it in a tiebreaker. The Italian dominated the third set, winning 6-2, threatening to end Djokovic's French Open campaign. But the 24-time Grand Slam winner mounted a strong comeback in the last two sets, winning 6-3 and 6-0.
In the second set, the Serb was leading 6-5 and needed one point to secure a two-set lead. However, Musetti capitalized on a subpar short hit by Djokovic to equalize the score and went on to win the set. Following the second set loss, Djokovic argued with chair umpire Adel Nour, asserting that the clay court was not being cleaned frequently enough.
The 37-year-old was frustrated that his request to clean the clay court at 1 a.m. was seemingly too much to ask after a long wait.
“So it’s problem to sweep the court every five games? I ask you to sweep the court, because there’s so much clay. I don’t know why it’s asking so much at 1 a.m. after waiting 20 hours to play.”
Lasting for over four and a half hours, the match was the latest finish in the French Open's history.
Novak Djokovic on his late finish in French Open 3R: "Some things could have been handled a different way"
The match between Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti was delayed beyond its scheduled time. Initially set for the night at Philippe-Chatrier, the clash was pushed ahead due to the preceding match between Alexander Zverev and Tallon Griekspoor starting later than planned.
The rain-interrupted match between Grigor Dimitrov and Zizou Bergs was also moved to Philippe-Chatrier, causing a further two-hour delay. Djokovic was later asked about the scheduling decision during the press conference.
While answering, Djokovic chose not to delve deep into the issue. He acknowledged having opinions on the matter but preferred to focus on the positive aspects of the match.
"I knew you guys were going to ask me that. Look, I don’t want to get into it. I have my opinions, but I think there are great things to talk about instead. Both Lorenzo’s and my performances stood out, I don’t want to be talking about scheduling. I think somethings could have been handled a different way," Djokovic said.
He further joked about activating his "young genes" to recover quickly for the next match.
"But there’s beauty as well, I guess, winning a match at 3:30am… If it’s the last one of the tournament. But it’s not, so I’m going to have to switch on all of my young genes and try to recover as soon as possible," he added.
Djokovic is looking to defend his French Open title and secure his 25th Grand Slam victory. He has already overcome opponents such as Pierre Hugues Herbert and Roberto Carballés Baena in the tournament's initial rounds. He will take on Francisco Cerúndolo in the fourth round on Monday, June 3rd.