Tennis Legend Calls Out Wimbledon Karen For Making Up Rules As She Goes
Cameras caught star tennis player Novak Djokovic in a heated exchange with a Wimbledon official during his quarter-final match with Felix Auger-Aliassime on Tuesday.
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Denise Parnell, a Wimbledon official, approached Djokovic before the third set and informed him that the roof would be closed, leaving him visibly confused and upset.
“The other day you didn’t want to close it until 8:30. Now you want to close it. You don’t want to get to 8:30? It’s 7:40 now,” Djokovic said. “We can play a whole other set outdoors. We’re an outdoor tournament.”
Parnell can be heard giving a quiet, nearly inaudible response about Jannik Sinner, who had just completed his match.
Djokovic responded, “With Jannik, I don’t care what happens in his matches. I’m talking about our match right now.”
Djokovic continued, “You remember the first round, you didn’t close it till like 8:20. Now you want to close it at 7:40. Where’s the consistency?… You’re so proud of your rules, and you’re not sticking to any kind of rules. You have no idea what the rule is.”
The online reaction to the move by Parnell was swift, with one X user saying, “Djokovic is spot on here. Wimbledon keeps changing the roof rules match-to-match with no consistency. Outdoor tournament means play[sic] outdoors when possible.” Another user commented, “He’s 100% right. Zero consistency. They just do stuff when they want. Players should be upset.”
Auger-Aliassime also piped in, asking if they had to close the roof even if both competitors wanted it open. (RELATED: Former Army Officer Qualifies For The Open Championship)
Parnell can be heard mentioning Sinner, despite not playing in the match.
Sinner has a history of struggling in high outdoor heat. During a third-round match at the Australian Open in January, Sinner was visibly struggling with heat and exhaustion while trailing Eliot Spizzirri when officials decided to close the roof and wait for the air conditioning to take effect.
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After the match, Sinner said, “I got lucky with the heat rule… I took my time and started feeling better as the match went on.”
This decision drew criticism from the tennis community, with many arguing the situation gave Sinner an unfair advantage, ultimately leading to his comeback win.
Closing the roof often changes playing conditions on grass courts. Djokovic has expressed disapproval of mid-match roof closures in the past.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic eyes the ball as he slips to return it to Denmark’s Holger Rune during their men’s singles tennis match. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
In a first-round match against Yibing Wu at this year’s tournament, where the roof was closed after the second round, Djokovic said, “It felt like we played two different matches: without the roof on and obviously with the roof closed. It affects the conditions. It affects the moisture of the grass; it becomes a bit more slippery.”
During the 2024 Wimbledon Tournament, Djokovic also ran into issues with roof closures, arguing that it made the courts “more slippery.”
The men’s singles final is set to take place on Sunday, July 12th. Sinner has qualified for the men’s singles semi-finals and is currently ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as the No. 1 men’s tennis player in the world. Djokovic is No. 7.
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