Novak Djokovic received a time violation in the quarterfinal match at the 2023 Italian Open and he wasn't happy about it.
In a match filled with rain and drama, the umpire Mohamed Lahyani had a lot of work to do as both players seemed to be unhappy with his decisions at times. In the second set, Holger Rune was fuming after a missed call from the umpire, and in the third set, it was Djokovic's turn after a time violation.
After getting back into the match following a rain delay, the Serb didn't start the third set well, being broken in the first game of the match. His Danish opponent then held his serve and led 2-0 as Djokovic served to still keep at least a theoretical chance.
But when the scoreboard showed 15-30 on his serve, the Serb received a time violation as he took to much time to prepare after a 26-shot rally. He didn't like that and immediately went to confront the umpire.
"You called the score seven - eight seconds before I served. I'm starting my service motion and you're calling the score five seconds before I start the serve."
Lahyani tried to explain his point of view, saying that he calls the score in two languages, in Italian because the ATP 1000 event takes place in Rome but also in English. "But that's the second score, the first score is Italian, that's when we start the clock." But Djokovic wasn't satisfied with the explanation as he didn't see a reason why the score should be called for so long.
"But what's the drama of waiting between English and Italian. What are you acting here or what? Why do you call the score for 20 seconds, just call it. God's sake."
Although it initially seemed that the incident didn't stop the 22-time Grand Slam champion, as he immediately hit an ace to make it 30-30, he then lost the game to face already a two-break disadvantage.
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