The highs and lows of Novak Djokovic were on display during his Australian Open semi-final win over Tommy Paul.
While he often gets aggressive during matches – seemingly to help spur himself on – the nine-time champion was left fuming over a rule that was correctly being adjudicated on Friday night.
Serving for the opening set at 5-1, Djokovic cracked it at the chair umpire over the timing of the serve clock.
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The Serb complained the clock had begun when he was going for his towel – even though the clock is always supposed to start as soon as the umpire calls out the score following the previous point.
“The ballkids are not allowed to give me the towel. Tell me how it works if it’s not working,” he complained.
“It’s the first time I’ve gone to get the towel this game.”
Nine’s Jim Courier explained: “Novak is trying to figure out when the clock should start. And the way it works is it starts when the chair umpire calls the score.
“It’s not when a player gets to the towel box. That is a misunderstanding of the rule from Novak. If it’s a quick point, like an ace, the clock will start a lot faster than if it is a 10-shot rally.
“The crowd will get a bit gnarly with him. Then he’s got to fight off not just Tommy Paul, but quite a number of the spectators. Strange.”
Djokovic immediately handed Paul a break opportunity which he gladly took to stay in the set at 5-2, with the American then storming all the way back to 5-5.
However earlier in the match, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was there to witness the superstar at his best.
After a particularly impressive shot Albanese, sitting alongside Tennis Australia chair Jayne Hrdlicka, pulled a face that showed how stunned he was.
