Novak Djokovic was penalized for a time violation during his marathon five-set win over Lorenzo Musetti, but he had an interesting conversation with the chair umpire.
The Serbian ultimately won the match, which set the record for the latest finish in Roland Garros history (past 3 a.m. local time). The match lasted a lung-busting four hours and 29 minutes, with Djokovic prevailing 7-5, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.
However, an incident that happened towards the end of the match attracted the attention of many onlookers and tennis fans. Djokovic led 4-0 and prepared to serve the opening point of the fifth game of the fifth set.
Chair umpire Adel Nour interjected and issued a time violation to Djokovic. This is an infraction in the tennis rulebook when a player exceeds the time allocated between points or games.
It was the second time in the match that Djokovic had exceeded the 25 seconds that is usually allotted to the server between points and was therefore docked a first serve.
His opponent, Musetti, showed admirable generosity by allowing the top seed to reclaim the first serve, and the crowd warmly applauded. But Nour did not reverse his original sanction. He enforced the strict application of the rules without any leniency and announcing on his microphone.
Understandably, the crowd booed, and Djokovic walked over to the chair umpire and asked him to show empathy, considering the time spent on the court and the unusual circumstances of competing so late into the night.
"By the rules you did the right thing, but have a little bit of understanding of what we're going through right now, it's 4 a.m."
Nevertheless, the decision had no bearing on the final result because the match was basically finished as a contest. Djokovic would hold serve and complete a final set rout to reach the fourth round.
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