Novak Djokovic was called for a hindrance during his Wimbledon semi-final match against Jannik Sinner, and Taylor Fritz chimed in on that.
It was a high-stakes clash between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. It was a semi-final match with a place in the final up for grabs. Djokovic ultimately won the match in three sets, booking a 5th consecutive Wimbledon semi-final but the match wasn't without controversy.
On top of the obligatory clash with the crowd, Djokovic also saw the umpire call him for a hindrance which some thought was a bit excessive. Richard Haigh defended his reasoning though Djokovic wasn't particularly thrilled with that decision or the time violation he got in the match as well.
In the end, it didn't matter much, as Sinner explained after the match that it was the umpire's call. He didn't want to comment on whether it was the right or wrong call but referenced something similar to Alexander Bublik earlier.
Taylor Fritz reacted to the situation as well, but since he didn't see it, he couldn't comment on the situation in the match but instead talked about the habit of some players on the ATP Tour to purposefully extend their grunts which can be distracting.
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.
There has been a lot of coddling in tennis when it comes to certain players as some players are tolerated things others aren't. Nick Kyrgios has been particularly vocal about Rafael Nadal and how much umpires tolerate his rather frequent time violations. As Fritz said, it's welcoming that some umpired are starting to call out things that should be called out.
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.
The umpire just gave Jannik Sinner a point due to Novak Djokovic extending his grunt. He called a hindrance because he believed it was a distraction while Jannik was hitting the ball.
