The Wimbledon crowd turned on Novak Djokovic after the seven-time champion argued with the umpire
Wimbledon’s legendary Centre Court descended into a chorus of boos as Novak Djokovic launched into yet another furious outburst at the umpire. The Serbian ace was incensed over what he believed was an incorrect call during his quarter-final clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime.
In the third set, which Djokovic led 5-2, he accused the official of failing to utilise all the tools available to them to oversee the match. Having moved into a 30-15 lead, Djokovic had a golden opportunity to break his Canadian opponent, having already done so earlier in the set.
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However, when he was unable to return Auger-Aliassime’s serve, Djokovic insisted the ball had clipped the net cord and should have been awarded as a let. Swedish umpire Louise Azemar Engzell rejected Djokovic’s appeal and ruled in favour of Auger-Aliassime.
At which point, the 39-year-old turned to the official in utter disbelief. Djokovic screamed “let, let, let” as his return flew well beyond the baseline before storming over to Azemar Engzell to voice his protest.
He questioned: “You didn’t see the let? This is embarrassing, come on. You don’t have to use the machine you can also use your… I mean.” Tim Henman, on BBC commentary duties, explained that there is no technology at Wimbledon for calling a let.
At this point, as Djokovic turned back around in dismay to resume play, Centre Court erupted into a thunderous wave of boos. It remained unclear whether the crowd were expressing their frustration at Djokovic’s reaction or the umpire’s choice not to replay the point.
However, Djokovic had already made his displeasure known earlier in the match when officials opted to close the roof on Centre Court at a point he considered far too early. Tournament referee Denise Parnell took to the court to explain the reasoning behind closing the roof at 7.40pm.
He fumed: “Why now? Why? The other day you didn’t want to close it until, like, 8.20, 8.30, and now you want to close it? You don’t want to get to 8.30? It’s 7.40 now. We can play a whole another set. Outdoors. We are an outdoor tournament.”
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