Novak Djokovic was left visibly upset with the chair umpire during his Shanghai Masters Round of 16 win against Roman Safiullin, on Wednesday. Expressing his disappointment, Djokovic argued with Ignacio Forcadell.
In a new rule introduced by the ATP, the shot clock activates automatically without taking into consideration anything that can happen between one exchange and another. The chair umpire tried to defend himself by stating that the rule was in application for some time.
“I mean, I know it’s not up to you, but this rule change is unbelievable. For 4 years we had a situation where we had to get the towel ourselves, now the ball boys are doing their best, but they are not trained to do it. You have adopted this new rule without even notifying a player. Honestly, it’s unbelievable,” Djokovic said, annoyed that the shot clock didn’t take the ball boys’ towel carrying role into consideration.
Djokovic ended up winning 6-3 6-2, and will face Jakub Mensik in the quarter-finals.
Djokokvic had an outburst with a chair umpire in his second round win vs Alex Michelsen too. The incident happened in the second set of the match when he received a time violation after running down the shot clock.
Speaking after beating Safiullin, Djokovic rated his performance and said, “Pretty close to 10. I think last might and tonight’s match are maybe some of the best matches I’ve played in a while. I’m just enjoying myself on the court. When you play well and feel good, there’s a lot of joy of striking a tennis ball on the court.”
“These kinds of matches and sensations I have on court are one of the greatest reasons why I keep on playing and competing. I believe I can play on a very high level now. It’s a matter of keeping that consistency and having a good time off court. The Chinese fans are incredible. Such passion and devotion to their favourite players. It’s just phenomenal,”