Novak Djokovic fumed at umpire Louise Azemar Engzell during his Wimbledon quarter-final clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime, calling her decision over a let call ’embarrassing’
Wimbledon’s iconic Centre Court erupted in a cacophony of boos as Novak Djokovic exploded into another heated tirade at the umpire. The Serbian star was livid over what he perceived as a wrong decision during his quarter-final battle with Felix Auger-Aliassime.
During the third set, with Djokovic ahead 5-2, he berated the official for not using every resource at their disposal to monitor the match. Having established a 30-15 advantage, Djokovic had a prime chance to break his Canadian rival, having already achieved this earlier in the set.
Yet when he failed to get Auger-Aliassime’s serve back, Djokovic maintained the ball had touched the net cord and should have been called as a let. Swedish umpire Louise Azemar Engzell dismissed Djokovic’s protest and sided with Auger-Aliassime, reports the Mirror.
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At that moment, the 39 year old wheeled round to the official in complete incredulity. Djokovic bellowed “let, let, let” as his return sailed far past the baseline before marching over to Azemar Engzell to express his objection.
He demanded: “You didn’t see the let? This is embarrassing, come on. You don’t have to use the machine you can also use your… I mean.”
Tim Henman, providing BBC commentary, clarified that no technology exists at Wimbledon for determining a let. At this juncture, as Djokovic turned back in disappointment to continue the game, Centre Court exploded into a deafening chorus of boos.
It was unclear whether the crowd were venting their annoyance at Djokovic’s response or the umpire’s decision not to replay the point.
However, Djokovic had already expressed his dissatisfaction earlier in the match when officials decided to close the roof on Centre Court at a time he deemed too premature. Tournament referee Denise Parnell came onto the court to justify the decision to close the roof at 7.40pm.
He fumed: “Why now? Why? The other day you didn’t want to close it until, like, 8.20, 8.30, and now you want to close it? You don’t want to get to 8.30? It’s 7.40 now. We can play a whole another set. Outdoors. We are an outdoor tournament.”