Tennis creates hindrances for Djokovic

In the second set of his Wimbledon semi-final victory over Jannick Sinner, Novak Djokovic grunted after exerting Herculean effort to chase down a ball out wide and hammer a backhand down the line.

The grunt seemingly had no impact whatsoever on Sinner, who returned the shot deep to keep the rally going. 

But Chair Umpire Richard Haigh of Yorkshire, England called Djokovic for a “hindrance”. 

It was a questionable call, to say the least. Umpires could call Andrey Rublev, Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka or other grunting players for “hindrance” after almost every swing. But they don’t.

Djokovic disputed the call briefly but managed to restrain his emotions enough to hold serve and then win the set. In the same game, Djokovic also had to shrug off the umpire’s warning for taking extended time between points. 

After the match, Djokovic joked about “hindrance”.

“The hindrance … could have changed the course of the match. I felt really nervous after that call by the chair umpire. But I managed to regroup. It was, I think, probably the first time in my career that something like this happened. I don’t normally have an extended grunt. But maybe it was an echo from the roof.”

Djokovic took this punishment in stride because tennis officialdom have been creating hindrances for him throughout his march to becoming the greatest player of all-time by winning 23 slam titles and dominating almost every statistical category in tennis. 

Here’s a few hindrances against him:

—Western elites disliking him for being from Serbia, which NATO bombed during the War in Yugoslavia; 

—crowds heckling or booing him because he dared to challenge their heroes Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal;

—Ben Rothenberg and other hactivist-journalists hounding him over fabricated or exaggerated allegations; 

—ATP executives going against him for leading the PTPA movement;

—US Open officials disqualifying him after linesman Laura Clark over-reacted to a ball passed her way;

—Australian officials detaining and deporting him; 

—United States officials prohibiting his entry into the US without proof of vaccination; 

—The US Open, sponsored by Moderna, failing to publicly support their three-time champion. 

No, Djokovic doesn’t let these hindrances deter him. Instead, Novak keeps on winning. 

It’s true that he has been creating a “hindrance” for every other player: by winning 23 slams and being the greatest athlete of all time. 

words and images copyright Christopher Johnson Globalite Media all rights reserved