Although he doesn’t always get great treatment at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic eased tensions after having to wait a long time to return to the court.
Source: Profimedia
Novak Djokovic he made it to the second round of Wimbledon since today defeated Pedro Kacin (6:3, 6:3, 7:6) with a long break of 90 minutes due to rain. That is, the rain stopped quickly, the roof was closed after a few minutes, but the grass was still wet. After inspecting the field, Djokovic and Kačin did not want to play and asked the organizers to dry the field additionally, which eventually turned into real agony for the fans.
They waited and waited for the match to continue, and Novak Djokovic was in the mood to animate them during that time. He was in constant communication with the organizers and the referee, it seemed that they were talking in a friendly tone despite the fact that he was nervous about the rain, and it seems that the journalists who seemed to want the Serbian tennis player to “quarrel” with the host did not read this.
“It seemed to me that before the match was stopped, you called the referee and showed that you were very dissatisfied with the state of the field. Do you think that they were late to stop the match and that caused a problem, that is, that the grass was wet later?”, it read. was a journalist’s question to which Djokovic answered in a calm tone and explained that he did not think it was the organizer’s fault that in the end the match had to be “on break” for so long.
“We talked about it, I talked to the field supervisor, the referee and the field director who came down to the field. They were all a bit confused because it’s something that’s never happened since Center Field got a roof. It usually takes from 10 to 20 minutes for the roof to be closed and for the air conditioners to do their job, i.e. for the grass to dry and be ready to play on. That’s what happened on court number one by the way, we saw that the tennis players returned there after 15 minutes and they continued to play. But we couldn’t really play in those conditions. We wanted to play, we showed it to the crowd several times, that we wanted to be on the field, but there were too many places on the field where it was slippery and wet. You touch the grass and your whole palm is immediately wet,” Djokovic said in his long presentation.
“It was strange because it lasted more than an hour and the situation was not improving, I think they are working on it now. I think they will give you a better answer to this question, is it down to the cooling system, since it was humid, since that it didn’t help. The grass is so sensitive to maintenance and it’s a big challenge if it rains for a minute or two. At the same time, I think it was a good decision by the referee even though I didn’t call him. He wanted us to finish the game, it could have been played… As soon as we finished the game, people came and covered the field. I don’t think he got wet from the extra minute of playing, it’s something else and that’s not a question for me!”
Novak explained that he was glad that they were able to continue the match, and then, after a detailed answer, he was asked again about the organizers and their abilities. Asked if they made a mistake by not “amplifying” the climate and thus speeding up the drying of the field, Nole once again dropped the ball.
“They did everything they could. We talked every few minutes and they were confused about what was going on. I believe they will check it now and I hope they will fix it since only two pitches have a roof. If it starts raining tomorrow, if you can’t play under the roof, then it’s a problem because of the schedule,” said Djokovic, who explained to the journalists why at one point in the match held a towel over his face and breathed into it.
Let’s remind you, Novak Djokovic will play against Jordan Thompson in the second round of Wimbledon, and that match is scheduled for Wednesday. Today they are at Wimbledon eliminated Dusan Lajović i Miomir Kecmanović, and on Tuesday Laslo Đere and Hamad Međedović will play.
BONUS VIDEO:
00:45 Srdjan Djokovic celebrates Novak’s title Source: Private archive
Source: Private archive