RIP-OFF ON THE CENTRE COURT
Fans get just 83 minutes of Djokovic and Federer
NOVAK DJOKOVIC was making sense of his easy workout when Roger Federer walked into the dressing room and broke into the grin of a man who knew the feeling.
In the absence of healthy opposition, he joked, they should just go out on Centre Court and have a quick hit against each other.
‘We had a little laugh about it in the locker room, saying we should maybe play a practice set and have the crowd stay, but they had another match to get on,’ Djokovic explained.
He grinned but also recognised the seriousness of the issue that arose yesterday, where both his match against Martin Klizan and Federer’s clash with Alexandr Dolgopolov lasted barely a set and a half before their opponents retired.
In the case of Djokovic, that meant 40 minutes of tennis before Klizan called off the fight at 6-3, 2-0 down. He had walked on court with strapping to his left calf and appeared to be limping from early in the match. It is not known if Dolgopolov came into his match with a problem, just that it also failed to go beyond three-quarters of an hour and each of the beaten men pocketed £35,000.
John McEnroe was fairly in touch with the public mood in saying: ‘I don’t know who the first lucky loser was but he will have been looking out there and thought, “I could have been playing on the Centre Court at Wimbledon”.’
Missed opportunities for those players on the reserve list; tickets that promised much yet delivered little for the punters.
Djokovic proposed a similar scenario to that adopted by the ATP Tour. They opted this year for a rule allowing players to retire on-site before a first round match without losing the prize money they would have earned. The theory is that it would deter players from playing injured and leaving crowds to stare at empty courts.
‘I support that kind of rule,’ he said. ‘Players who have made it to the Grand Slam main draw would get what they deserve, but on the other hand it allows someone else to play if they can.
‘It doesn’t happen often, really. The aura of Wimbledon has probably always been the strongest of any other tournament. Especially if you walk out on the Centre Court, there is a responsibility. I’m sure they tried their best, but it is what it is.’
From such limited time on court it is difficult to rule on Djokovic, whose form has been a puzzle in the year since he completed the career Slam at the 2016 French Open.
But in winning at Eastbourne he has a degree of form and it is fascinating to see how his partnership with Andre Agassi will pan out.
Agassi yesterday was largely inscrutable as he sat on the court where he won the 1992 title, barring the occasional discussion with Mario Ancic, the former world No 7turned investment banker-turned coach. Roaring and cajoling will likely not be his thing, but none of that will matter if it yields a first Slam in a year.
For Djokovic, these Championships are about far more than the cheque.