Novak Djokovic made a triumphant return to the Shanghai Masters, but the former world No. 1 was frustrated by a time violation he received during the match.
Djokovic's emotions have otherwise been the opposite since making his first appearance in China in five years to play at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, where he was given a significant welcome from the fans.
The supporters in China feared that Djokovic might never return to the country to play a tournament after he had skipped it last year. The Shanghai Masters was not played from 2020 until 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That meant Djokovic had not competed in China since 2019. The Serbian has said he is focusing more on Grand Slams and representing Serbia, previously indicating he may be done with other tournaments, which added to concerns the Serbian would not return to China.
However, the 24-time Grand Slam champion returned to Shanghai in his opening match against Alex Michelsen. Djokovic sealed his first victory at the tournament in five years in straight sets.
The match was also notable for the announcer calling Djokovic the greatest of all time as he walked out onto the court, something that had never happened during his career.
Djokovic is also known for sometimes getting into confrontations with umpires. He was unhappy with Mohamed Lahyani after being given a time violation and questioned why the umpire did it.
"Why do you do this man? Why do you do this man?"
There has already been controversy about the shot clock during the Asian swing. The Shanghai Masters and last week's China Open used an automatic shot clock rather than the umpire deciding when to start it.
That reality led Lahyani to remind Djokovic that when the shot clock starts and stops is no longer in his control and that he has no choice but to give a violation when players go past the time.
"It's not in my hands."
The commentators working on the match noticed Lahyani's tone and body language when he made that tone. Nick Lester felt the Swedish umpire did not actually want to give Djokovic the time violation.
"It was almost like he didn’t want to do it. He said it with a whisper didn’t he, Mohamed Lahyani there. He knew what was coming."
Former British player Arvind Parmar was Lester's co-commentator. He pointed out that not all umpires enforce the rules like Lahyani did in this case and found that frustrating.
"It’s not ideal, is it? But it’s enforcing the rules. That’s half the problem, the rules aren’t always enforced. Starts automatically, goes over 25 [seconds], what are you supposed to do?"
Djokovic may not have been used to the automatic clock after not playing a match for a while. Like his rival Carlos Alcaraz, he may not like it, but that is the reality he faces.
That moment did not stop Djokovic from progressing to the next round, and stopping him in Shanghai promises to be challenging.
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