Novak Djokovic turned on umpire Louise Engzell during his Wimbledon quarter-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime, branding the decision-making “embarrassing” after a disputed let call on Centre Court. “This is embarrassing,” Djokovic said shortly before winning the third set to take a 2-1 lead. “You don’t have to follow the machine you can also use your ear.” Tim Henman, on BBC commentary, remarked: “But there isn’t a machine?”
Djokovic’s frustration had been building all evening. After losing the second set 6-3, he confronted tournament referee Denise Parnell over her decision to close the Centre Court roof at 7.41pm – almost an hour earlier than in previous matches at these championships. “You’re so proud of your rules and you are not sticking to any kind of rules. You have no idea what the rule is,” Djokovic said. “The other day you didn’t want to close it till like 8.20pm, 8.30pm and now you want to close it? Why? You don’t want to get to 8.30pm? It’s 7.40pm now. We can play a whole other set outdoors. We’re an outdoor tournament.”
“Djokovic raged at a missed let call and questioned the roof timing during his Wimbledon quarter-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime.”
Parnell had referenced Jannik Sinner’s match against Shintaro Mochizuki, when the roof was closed shortly before 8.40pm. Djokovic dismissed the comparison: “With Jannik I don’t care what happens in his matches, I care about our match right now. You remember the first round? You didn’t close it till 8.20pm, 8.30pm. And now you want to close it at 7.40pm. Where’s the consistency?”
Play resumed at 7.54pm. Auger-Aliassime, who has won eight of his nine titles indoors, also appeared to question the decision, gesturing his surprise and saying “even if both players” before cutting his sentence short, suggesting he was in agreement with Djokovic. The match, which Djokovic led 2-1 after a 7-6 first set and 6-3 second, went beyond the four-hour mark when the Canadian forced a decider. It is likely to finish before the 11pm curfew. Henman, a BBC pundit and All England Club board member, conceded it was a “conservative” time to delay the match.