Wimbledon 2023: Umpire slammed as Novak Djokovic penalised for hindrance call during win against Jannik Sinner

With 23 Grand Slam titles to his name, you might assume that Novak Djokovic has encountered nearly everything in the sport. However, even he was taken aback when he was called for hindrance during his Wimbledon semi-final due to an extended grunt.

Although the decision failed to deter Djokovic as he held service and ultimately emerged victorious 6-3 6-4 7-6(4), the Serbian reacted angrily by asking the umpire “what are you doing?”, and it has sparked debatee among fellow players and commentators.

Djokovic – who will meet Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s final as he eyes an eighth Wimbledon title – had calmed down during his press conference but insisted he still didn’t agree with the decision.

He said: “First of all, I have to accept the decision from a chair umpire. That’s it. It was quite a close call, I must say. I mean, it has never happened to me. I’ve never had a hindrance call for extended grunt.

“I saw the replay. I saw that my grunt finished before he hit the shot. So I thought that chair umpire’s call was not correct. I mean, my opinion.

“Again, you have to accept it.”

Sinner was also questioned about the incident in his press conference.

The Italian said: “Yeah, it’s a call of the umpire, no? Obviously he hit the ball already, and then after he was shouting quite long and with the volume up.

“I came there, obviously I was quite focused about the ball. But, yeah, players, we do this when we are quite sure we win the point with this shot. Also, like, I don’t know, [Alexander] Bublik against Andrey [Rublev] in the last game, it was similar, no?”

But former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe wasn’t as reserved in his assessment.

“He handled it admirably – way, way better than most players,” McEnroe said on BBC TV.

“I would have hated if that was a turning point.

“Horrible, horrible call. Sinner’s ball went back in court and dropped a foot from baseline. How much of a hindrance could it have been?

“It is one thing if Sinner lifts his game, that’s great, but not when the umpire gets in the middle of it. Obviously, this umpire wanted his name in the paper. Fortunately, Novak held. It would have been a shame.”

Tim Henman added: “So rarely do you see a hindrance, sometimes in doubles if they are talking you might get it, but in a situation like this, in the semis of a Grand Slam, it was so unexpected.”

British player Liam Broady took to Twitter to express his opinion on the matter.

“Not saying it wasn’t a hindrance but I’ve never seen a grunt called for a hindrance and every player has done that at least once a tournament,” he wrote.

“The extended grunts and the strangely timed grunts happen ALL. THE. TIME. And they never get called. Strange time to take a stand on an elongated grunt!?”

Taylor Fritz tweeted: “I can’t speak to this specific instance because I didn’t see it.

“Novak doesn’t come to my mind when I think of this rule, but some players I can think of extend/delay grunts A LOT on big points to put you off and it needs to be called more by umpires.”

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