Djokovic cuts up rough over state ofWimbledon surface
WIMBLEDON felt the wrath of a worked-up Novak Djokovic as the Serbian accused the tournament of bungling their scheduling and allowing the grass on Centre Court to fall into a shabby state.
Djokovic set up a quarter-final against Tomas Berdych with a 6-2 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 victory against French left-hander Adrian Mannarino. But he wore an irritated look as he joined the last-eight line-up a day later than planned.
Gilles Muller’s epic Court One win over Rafael Nadal, which finished in fading light at 8.32pm on Monday, meant there was no time for Djokovic and Mannarino to begin there before nightfall, and a move to Centre Court was ruled out by tournament chiefs on grounds that Djokovic felt spurious.
And once it did start at midday on Tuesday, under the Centre Court roof as rain fell outside, Djokovic was soon riled by the state of the grass.
“The chair umpire in the end of the match asked me about the hole, because midway through the match I mentioned there is a hole,” Djokovic said. “He wanted me to show him, so I showed him. His reaction wasn’t that great.
“Today I must admit under the roof it was a bit more slippery in the back of the court especially. Whether it’s a safety issue? I don’t think it is as much as it is a hindrance to the play. There is an uneven surface around it, no grass area basically around the baseline. It’s quite uneven.”
Despite being pestered by an ongoing shoulder issue, Djokovic moved through to a clash with Tomas Berdych today, while Roger Federer plays Milos Raonic.
Andy Murray continues his quest to hold onto his title against American Sam Querrey, while Muller’s reward for his Nadal victory is a lasteight encounter with Croatia’s Marin Cilic.