LONDON, England: Novak Djokovic had a furious row with tournament referee, Denise Parnell, as he battled through the longest quarterfinal in Wimbledon history, PA Media/dpa reported.
The 39-year-old had to go the distance in a deciding-set tie-break to beat Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and book a semifinal showdown with defending champion, Jannik Sinner.
His 7-6 (12-10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-4) victory took an exhausting five hours and 15 minutes, finishing just six minutes before Wimbledon’s 11:00 pm (2200 GMT) curfew.
The flashpoint came when Djokovic, bidding for an eighth Wimbledon title, had just been pegged back to one set all, at 7:40 pm, and Parnell came down to inform the players that the roof on Centre Court would be closed.
Djokovic argued they could easily fit in another set in daylight, and angrily said: “You are so proud of your rules and you’re not sticking to any kind of rule. We have no idea what the rule is.”
The Serbian, who had overcome an injury scare to take the first set, was probably mindful that Auger-Aliassime, 14 years his junior, is a renowned indoor player.
He argued that in his first-round match against Wu Yibing, the roof was not closed until almost 8:30 pm.
“The other day you didn’t want to close it till like, 8:20, 8:30, and now you want to close it? It’s 7:40,” he said. “We can play a whole other set outdoors. We’re an outdoor tournament.”
Parnell explained that she did not want a repeat of Sinner’s fourth-round match against Shintaro Mochizuki, when the roof had to be closed in the middle of a set because it got too dark.
Djokovic responded: “With Jannik, I don’t care what happens. I care about our match right now!”
Yet a 14-minute hold of serve from Auger-Aliassime in the second game of the third set rather proved Parnell’s point.
Djokovic had needed a medical time-out towards the end of the first set after seeming to tweak his left calf, but he still won it after a marathon tie-break despite grimacing with every serve.
Yet despite Djokovic moving more freely, Auger-Aliassime hit back in the second before the roof rumpus began.
Third seed Auger-Aliassime had only dropped serve once this fortnight, but Djokovic finally managed to break him to love on his way to the third set.
A break apiece sent the fourth into a tie-break, won convincingly by Auger-Aliassime, and the decider rumbled towards a first-to-10 shoot-out before Djokovic celebrated another remarkable, dramatic win.
“I did it with a racket, and a lot of heart,” he said afterwards. “A lot of management of the nerves and the extreme tension you feel in these kind of matches.
“It was anybody’s game. These are the moments I still play tennis for, for sure. I wish it was the final so I don’t need to worry about how the body will feel tomorrow.” – BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa
