Novak Djokovic confronted chair umpire James Keothavong after receiving a time violation warning during his Australian Open quarter-final against Lorenzo Musetti. The 10-time former champion was digging around in his bag for a cap to wear in the sun, running down the shot clock while Musetti was waiting to serve.
The No. 4 seed blew an early break lead to lose the first set to Musetti. While heading to his chair at 4-5 down, Djokovic asked the chair official why he didn’t get a “heads up” first.
The Serbian superstar struggled to find his hat, but the umpire had already called time with Musetti leading 4-3 with the break, and serving to extend his lead. Djokovic got a time violation, and didn’t look too happy with the decision.
As he walked to his bench on the next changeover, Djokovic asked Keothavong: “You couldn’t give me heads up before warning, no?
“I was looking for my cap. You could’ve given me a heads up, as a gentleman and someone who’s been in sport for a couple decades. Mid first set, first time I go over, and you give me a warning.
“I’m not saying it’s against the rules, because I went over, but you could have given me a heads up, right? You could have told me, ‘Hey Novak, you’re over’.”
John McEnroe, who was commentating on the match for host broadcaster Channel 9, told viewers: “He’s just called a time violation on Djokovic. He’s coming out and returning, come on. Does he know he’s won this 10 times? All they do is call the score and call the time warnings.”
Musetti went on to close out the first set 6-4 in just under an hour. Djokovic looked sharp when he started the match leading 2-0, but the Italian raised his level and reeled off four games in a row.
Djokovic made 18 unforced errors in the first set, compared to just eight from Musetti. There were then three breaks of serve to start the second set, with the 23-year-old coming out on top to take a set and break lead.
