Novak Djokovic was left furious with the umpire over a shot clock warning during his win over Lorenzo Musetti at the Miami Open. The veteran Serb cruised to a 6-2 6-2 victory over his Italian rival, booking a meeting with Sebastian Korda in the quarter-finals. He did not have it all his own way, though, with an early warning for a time violation prompting an angry response.
In the opening set, Djokovic was handed the warning after going over the shot clock by a single second. He was quick to question the umpire for penalising him, expressing frustration over the lack of leeway when he had barely exceeded the time. A furious exchange took place during a changeover with Djokovic making it clear that he was not happy.
He said: “What are you trying to achieve? It’s not your first match in your life, right? It’s the fifth game of the match, right? First few games? No problem, I wasn’t even close. First time I get close, one second longer, you give me a warning.”
The umpire responded by explaining that the decision was out of his hands, telling Djokovic: “It’s because the shot clock is automatic, Novak. That’s the current system. Because it starts automatically, you have to keep up with the clock.”
Djokovic was having none of it, though. He suggested the umpire should have used discretion to avoid penalising him, given that he only went over the shot clock by a mere second.
He fired back: “You have to keep up with the clock, right? So, you never in your life understood the moment that match is in, that players are rallying. It doesn’t apply to you, rules are rules.”
The umpire replied: “It’s not about me, it’s about the procedure,” to which Djokovic said: “Of course it’s about you. You gave me one, first time I was even close, fifth game of the match.”
The incident seemed to spark something in Djokovic, who won the next nine games on his way to a comfortable victory over Musetti. After the match, he admitted to being ‘star-struck’ by the presence of tennis royalty in the crowd.
He had Juan Martin del Potro in his box, while Serena Williams was also in attendance and offered Djokovic some words of encouragement at one stage.
“I was star-struck,” he said. “It was amazing to see first DelPo, obviously a long-time friend and a rival, so happy to have him around and get his support from the box.”
“It was amazing, it was [the] first time to have DelPo in the box, so I want to thank him really for coming. And Serena, that was a surprise.
“Actually, when I had that down-the-line passing shot, I pointed to her [Williams] and asked her whether it was OK. She said: ‘Yeah, it was fine’. If Serena says it was fine, then it was amazing by everyone else’s standards.”