Novak Djokovic reveals players complaining about transportation and accommodation at Italian Open and Madrid
Novak Djokovic has opened up about the recurring complaints from his fellow players regarding transportation and accommodation at the Madrid Open and Italian Open.
Djokovic continued his title defense at the Italian Open with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Grigor Dimitrov to advance to the fourth round in Rome. Following his win, the Serb voiced his discontent with the extended duration of the Masters events in Madrid and Rome resulting from the ATP's adoption of a new 96-player main draw format, which replaced the former 64-player setup.
"I mean, I'm personally overall not a fan of that because I feel like we already have four Grand Slams a year that take two plus one week eventually if you go all the way with training," Djokovic said in his post-match press conference.
He did, however, also acknowledge the positive aspects of the expanded draw.
"I think the positive thing is you're giving more players the opportunity to be in the draw, the main draw. Obviously they expanded the draw so you have more players," he added.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion also highlighted the organizational challenges for the tournaments to host the additional players. He revealed that there have been complaints from players over the transportation and accommodation facilities at the Madrid Open and Italian Open.
"For organization, I see it is a big challenge. It's a big hustle to welcome so many additional players with their respective player staff members for transportation and everything. It just puts the organization to even a bigger task. There's been complaints about Madrid and Rome tournaments from players, with their accommodations, transportation," he said.
"It's challenging. Obviously the first year if you're not expanding your facilities even more, you'll have struggles," he added.
Stan Wawrinka is one such player who has raised complaints about the transport service at the Italian Open.
Novak Djokovic will face Cameron Norrie in Italian Open 4R
Novak Djokovic will be up against Cameron Norrie in the fourth round of the Italian Open. The Brit defeated Alexandre Muller in straight sets to begin his campaign in Rome. He then came through with a 6-2, 7-6(4) win over Marton Fucsovics to book his spot against the defending champion.
The top seed leads 2-0 in his head-to-head against Norrie, with his most recent win against the World No. 13 coming in the 2022 Wimbledon semifinals. Their clash in Rome will mark their first clay-court encounter on the ATP tour.