Although Novak Djokovic triumphantly returned to the Shanghai Masters, a time violation he earned during the match frustrated the former world number one.
Since making his first trip to China in five years to compete in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, where he received a warm reception from the locals, Djokovic’s feelings have been completely different.
After Djokovic missed the country’s tournament last year, his fans there were afraid he might never come back. In 2020 and 2022, the Shanghai Masters were postponed because to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Djokovic hasn’t participated in a competition in China since 2019. There were worries that the Serbian would not go back to China because he had earlier indicated he might be done with other tournaments and was now concentrating more on Grand Slams and promoting Serbia.
In his opening round against Alex Michelsen, the 24-time Grand Slam champion did, however, make a trip back to Shanghai. In straight sets, Djokovic completed his first tournament triumph in five years.
Another noteworthy aspect of the match was that, for the first time in Djokovic’s career, the announcer referred to him as the greatest player of all time as he stepped onto the court.
Djokovic is renowned for occasionally engaging in altercations with umpires. After Mohamed Lahyani was given a time violation, he was not thrilled with him and wondered why the umpire had done it.
During the Asian swing, there has already been debate regarding the shot clock. Instead of the umpire choosing when to start the shot clock, an automatic one was employed at the Shanghai Masters and the China Open last week.
Lahyani reminded Djokovic that he had no control over when the shot clock starts and stops and that he was forced to call a violation when players went past the time due to this reality.
When Lahyani struck that tone, the pundits covering the game saw it in his body language. According to Nick Lester, the Swedish referee was not genuinely inclined to award Djokovic the time violation.
It appeared as though he was reluctant to do it. There was Mohamed Lahyani, and he whispered that. He was aware of what was about to happen.”
Arvind Parmar, a former British player, co-commentated with Lester. He expressed frustration that not all umpires uphold the law in the same way that Lahyani did in this instance.
“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.
