WIMBLEDON, England — Novak Djokovic is never one to hide his feelings or to take the so-called politically correct opinion if it goes against what he believes.
Such was the case Tuesday at Wimbledon after the second seed finally moved into the men’s quarterfinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Adrian Mannarino of France.
Their fourth-round match was postponed from Monday as it was meant to follow the epic five-set marathon won by Gilles Muller over Rafael Nadal that went to near darkness on Court 1.
Djokovic took exception to the All England Club’s decision to discount a viable option on Monday — moving the match to Centre Court, which was free from before 7 p.m. local time onwards. There was still plenty of light left, and Centre Court comes complete with roof and lights.
“I obviously was not happy not to play last night,” Djokovic said. “I wanted to play. I thought we could have played. They said, ‘No, it’s going to take too long to get the crowd in (Centre Court).”
On Monday night, Club officials released a statement as to why the Djokovic and Mannarino match wasn’t moved to Centre Court when third seed Roger Federer and 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria ended quickly in favor of the Swiss.
“The safety and security of all visitors to The Championships is of paramount importance,” the statement read. “The preference was to play the Djokovic v Mannarino match as scheduled on NO. 1 Court. When that was no longer an option, it was determined the match could not be moved to Centre Court due to the number of spectators remaining in the Grounds. As late as 8:30 pm, 30,000 people still remained in the Grounds, and therefore moving the match would have created a significant safety issue."
What clearly made Djokovic even more annoyed was that he wasn’t accorded regular updates as to the plans for their match as they waited to play Monday.
“We were kept for two and a half hours in the dark, in a way, without knowing what we are going to do,” Djokovic said. “So you were warming up, cooling down. Referee’s office was completely indecisive.”
Mannarino agreed that Monday was not an easy day to get through under the circumstances.
“It was a long day,” he said. “Was not easy to handle everything because when Muller won the second set, I was ready to go on court already. Mentally it’s quite exhausting.”
In the end, Djokovic had no choice but to accept the decision as his preference wasn’t given consideration.
“It was frustrating last night, I must admit,” Djokovic said. “But I quickly just turned the next page and just
focused on what I need to do today. I’ve done it in straight sets. That’s all that matters. So I try to just be in this moment and look forward to next challenge.”
In truth, Djokovic seemed of the opinion that Muller, who played a 4-hour, 48-minute match before nailing down the 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 win over Nadal, is in a more precarious situation.
Djokovic would like to see Wimbledon follow suit with the other Grand Slams and institute a fifth-set tiebreak rule.
“I just don’t see any reason why not (to go to a fifth-set tiebreaker),” Djokovic said. “Because (John) Isner and (Nicolas) Mahut made history with an 11-hour match once. Is that a reason why we’re keeping it?
“Yeah, it is great drama,” he added. “But that player has to go out tomorrow. It is for a spectator. But for a player to play a five, six-hour match, than come back … within two days and perform, it’s not really what your body’s looking for, to be honest.”
As for Djokovic’s next challenge, most would say it’s not one that would keep him awake Tuesday night with anxiety.
He plays 11th seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic as he continues his campaign for a fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam trophy. Wednesday’s quarterfinal will be their 28th meeting, and Djokovic holds a 25-2 edge.
The other men’s quarterfinals pit top seed Andy Murray against 24th seed Sam Querrey of the U.S., Federer against sixth seed Milos Raonic of Canada, and seventh seed Marin Cilic of Croatia against Muller of Luxembourg.
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