Novak criticises tournament officials for his match delay

Novak Djokovic, a three-time Wimbledon champion, sharply criticized tournament officials for forcing him to wait until Tuesday to play his fourth-round match.

Djokovic, the No. 2 seed, was scheduled to play Adrian Mannarino on No. 1 Court on Monday afternoon, but the match was postponed until Tuesday because a lengthy five-set match between Gilles Müller and Rafael Nadal preceded it. But Djokovic felt his match with Mannarino, which he won on Tuesday, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4, should have been moved to Centre Court, which has lights.

“We spoke with the referee, supervisors, trying to understand the thought process that they are having,” Djokovic said Tuesday after his win. “I just think it was a wrong decision not to play us last night, because we could have played.”

Officials told Djokovic and Mannarino that they were concerned about public safety of the fans — they estimated there were 30,000 still in the grounds — rushing to get an open seat at Centre Court. The tournament also issued a statement Monday night expressing the same concern.

The overnight delay could be costly for Djokovic, who will not get a day off before his quarterfinal match against No. 11 Tomas Berdych on Wednesday. All the other men, including Berdych, finished their fourth-round matches on Monday.

Djokovic said he was particularly annoyed that he was not given a firm answer until the end of the day, and had to spend a good deal of Monday warming up, then cooling down and repeating the process. “Referee’s office was completely indecisive,” Djokovic said.

He also said Wimbledon should abandon the win-by-two rule in the fifth set and just play a tiebreaker instead. “I just don’t see any reason why not,” Djokovic said, and added, “If you are already getting to the 6-all, fifth set, you might as well just decide it in a tiebreaker.”

Djokovic was also critical of the court conditions, which have increasingly become an issue after a week of hot, dry weather. He said he found a large hole near the service line of Centre Court and showed it to the chair umpire.

I just don’t see any reason why not. If you are already getting to the 6all, fifth set, you might as well just decide it in a tiebreaker.”