Djokovic upset with Roland-Garros court conditions after tweaking knee against Cerundolo

Novak Djokovic was rolling through his Roland-Garros fourth-round match against Francisco Cerundolo, as he dominated the first set 6-1. However, it turned out to be a second consecutive five-set marathon for the world No 1 — in which he prevailed 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Part of the reason for the difficulty was a knee injury that Djokovic sustained early in the second set. One of several slips on the Parisian clay did the damage, after which the 37-year-old took a medical timeout and got visits from the trainer at several other changeovers.

At one stage Djokovic complained to tournament supervisor Wayne McKewen about the court conditions.

He asked, “Why is it such a big issue to sweep the court every second changeover? Who is playing tennis? Explain it to me. I screwed up my knee because I made a quick move. I’m sliding and slipping all the time.

“The only thing I’m asking is every second changeover, you sweep the court. That’s all. What is the problem with the groundspeople doing it every second changeover? For them.

“You’re the supervisor; you are representing us players. I’m telling you as a player, it’s not okay! You’re going to go with the groundspeople that do not play tennis. But they know better than me if the court is good or not?”

everyone slides on clay, but I slipped way too many times…. I’ve slipped and fell on the clay many times in my life, and on grass as well, but this was just too many times.

Novak Djokovic

It was, of course, a hot topic at Djokovic’s press conference.

“Look, the conditions or the kind of weather circumstances we had this year are quite unusual,” the Serb said of all the rain during week one. “We had lots of rain, very damp, muddy, really heavy conditions on the court that affects the court, affects the humidity and everything, that affects the surface.

“Clay is the surface that you can somehow affect with some grounds work and grounds care. When it comes to the quality of the clay courts, Roland-Garros is by far the best in the world — there is no doubt. I know grounds people for many years and have had great relationship with them, and actually talked with one of them today when I was warming up on the center court a few hours before my match about, you know, sweeping the court every second (or) third changeover — just giving it a little bit of an extra care. Because I felt today with sun coming out thankfully after long days of rain, it has affected the court, has affected particularly the upper layers of the clay.

“I don’t know what exactly they have done. It seems like that some of the clay was removed, so there was very little, almost no clay on the court today. Because of the drier conditions and sun and warmer conditions, it affects the clay in such a way that it becomes very slippery.

“So the injury that I had today with the knee happened exactly because of that, because I slipped and I slide a lot. I mean everyone slides on clay, but I slipped way too many times. That is quite unusual, you know. Of course I do, because I have an aggressive kind of movement, dynamic change of directions. It’s normal for me; I’ve slipped and fell on the clay many times in my life, and on grass as well, but this was just too many times”

“Look, I’m not pointing fingers…blaming whoever, a group or an individual of why that’s the case. I’m just trying to understand in this whole process what is the damage to the court to sweep it… I just don’t see how that’s damaging to the court…. I know that currently some of my team members are also having a conversation with the Roland-Garros people, just trying to understand. I’m just trying to understand why it is so complicated to do that and why it is that the answer is constantly no. I don’t get it.”

Whatever the case, the court conditions will likely be better for Djokovic’s quarter-final match against Casper Ruud on Wednesday…if Djokovic is able to play.

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