Novak Djokovic was right to hit out at French Open umpire – it should never happen again

Novak Djokovic was pushed to the brink of a shock defeat in his French Open third round clash against Lorenzo Musetti, with his respectful and pointed exchange with umpire Adel Nour in the final set summing up his mood.

Djokovic endured the latest finish in French Open history against Musetti to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros.

The world No 1 and defending champion’s match was shoved back into the early hours due to the incessant rain which has seen this tournament dubbed the ‘Drench Open’.

Djokovic finally emerged victorious from the five-set ordeal at 3.08am, as he confirmed his commitment to Grand Slam tennis remains strong as he overcame a dangerous opponent and a ridiculous time slot to move into the last-16.

With downpours wrecking another day on the outside courts in Paris, tournament chiefs decided to squeeze in an unfinished match under the roof on Court Phillipe Chatrier before Djokovic took on Musetti in the night session.

That decision was taken early on during the match between Alexander Zverev and Tallon Griekspoor, which turned out to be a five-set, four-hour 13-minute marathon won by the German.

That meant Grigor Dimitrov’s match against Belgian Zizou Bergs resumed at 7.45pm local time, with the score 6-3 2-1 to the Bulgarian 10th seed.

By the time Dimitrov had completed a four-set win – just shy of four hours in total – Djokovic, due to start at 8.15pm, finally got on the court at 10.40pm.

Having edged the first set, 37-year-old Djokovic slipped 2-1 down but dug deep to haul himself level.

In the deciding set, the Serbian was pathetically called for a time violation by umpire Adel Nour, losing his first serve and he pleaded: “Have a little bit of understanding. It’s 4am.”

While the rules state umpire Nour was right to punish Djokovic for going over his time limit for serving, this was an occasion when some of the rules that are there to protect the integrity of the game should have been overlooked.

READ MORE: Novak Djokovic makes ‘real trouble’ admission as he reacts to historic latest French Open finish

Djokovic was bouncing the ball for too long before his first serve against Musetti, which is a common trait when the world No 1 feels the pressure in a tight match.

Yet this was an occasion when his indiscretion should have been overlooked because at no point in his glorious career has Djokovic been asked to play a Grand Slam tennis match at a time that is generally reserved for people who suffer from insomnia.

The tennis would can sympathise with French Open organisers who have been handed an almost impossible task after most of the first seven days of the tournament were washed out by relentless rain in Paris, but this farcical Saturday night spectacle could still have been avoided.

If it were not for the second roof that was led on the 10,000-seat Suzanne Lenglen in time for this year’s tournament at Roland Garros, the crisis gripping the tournament’s schedule may now be at breaking point.

Most of the matches completed in week one have been played on the 15,000-seat Court Philippe Chatrier and the Suzanne Lengle courts that both have a roof, yet there is still a week to go in the second Grand Slam of 2024 and time to catch up on the backlog of matches.

The weather forecast for week two is improving and with that in mind, there was no reason why Djokovic and Musetti should have started a best-of-five-set match at almost 11pm.

This was always likely to be a tight contest and even if it had been decided in three sets, there was a good chance Musetti would have extended the match beyond three hours.

Moving the Djokovic vs Musetti match to Sunday would have added to the backlog of matches, but that must have been a better option than asking the duo to complete a match after 3am.

Would football ask its biggest stars to play a crucial match in the middle of the night? In fact, would any other sport inflict such a ridiculous schedule on their biggest stars in one of the most important events of the year?

The answer to that question has to be no, so tennis needs to answer why it continues to put it’s athletes through such a demanding schedule.

Djokovic would have had a massage, taken in some food, completed his media duties and left the Roland Garros site around 5am on Sunday morning.

If he was told he had to play two days in a row rather than avoiding the odeal he went through with Musetti, the Serbian icon would probably have signed up for moving the match to Sunday.

Wimbledon has an 11pm curfew for matches played under the roof on Centre Court or No.1 Court at the All England Club and while that is due to an agreement with local residents, it also makes a lot of sense.

Ball kids, tournament staff and spectators should not be asked to watch tennis at 3am and while the fans remained in big numbers on Court Philippe Chatrier to watch the Djokovic comeback, this was an occasion that felt like it should have been avoided.

Tennis needs to have an agreed cut-off point when action stops eachday to ensure athletes and spectators are given the respect they are due as we need to avoid a repeat of the Djokovic vs Musetti madness at Roland Garros.