Controversy follows Novak Djokovic everywhere he goes. Sometimes in the form of off-court activities, and sometimes because of his on-court shenanigans. The Serb is often criticized for taking loads of time between his serves. He often gets away with the 25-second time violation. The umpires tend to let these slide, but after a certain point, they are forced to take the call.
During the ongoing Wimbledon final, former American tennis player, Pam Shriver questioned the umpire for not penalizing the 23-time major champion.
Pam Shriver calls out the poor umpiring
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Djokovic crossed the 25-second deadline on several occasions in the final. It also explains why the second set lasted so long. After a certain point, Pam Shriver had enough of it and called out the umpire. She took to Twitter to announce her frustration.
The former American tennis player said, “Where is the time violation? Fascinating part of this final 2:57pm.”
Where is the time violation? Fascinating part of this final 2:57pm
— Pam Shriver (@PHShriver) July 16, 2023
Shriver’s request was fulfilled moments after the tweet when the Serb went on to receive the violation. It came during a crucial part of the match where he was trailing 4-5 in the second tiebreak. The violation did not interrupt Djokovic’s momentum as he won the next two points on his serve. However, it was Carlos Alcaraz who closed out the set on his first set point opportunity, taking the set 8-6 in the breaker and levelling the score to one-set each in the final.
Novak Djokovic was given a time violation serving at 4-5 in the 2nd set tiebreak.
The crowd cheered.
Novak won the point.
A story as old as time. pic.twitter.com/mzoVrecAlq
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 16, 2023
This wasn’t the first instance of Djokovic receiving a time violation or controversial call in this tournament. He received a similar call at a crunch moment in his semi-final against Jannik Sinner.
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Novak Djokovic on the wrong end of the controversy
In the semi-final battle against Jannik Sinner, Djokovic lost a point due to hindrance. Apparently, he let out his grunt seconds after hitting the groundstroke. The Serb was rightfully penalized, but the call was highly controversial considering the rarity of these calls being given out. In the same service game, Djokovic received a time violation. However, he managed to hold his serve despite some decisions going against him.
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Do you think that the umpires should be more strict with regards to calls like time violation and hindrances? Let us know in the comments.
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