French Open Slammed for Alleged Carlos Alcaraz Favoritism After Novak Djokovic’s Roof Drama

Following his title triumph at the Geneva Open, Novak Djokovic got off to a winning start at the Roland Garros. He began his latest bid for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam glory with a dominating performance against America’s Mackenzie McDonald. With this impressive straight-set victory against the American, he has now improved his record to 21-0 in the first-round matches at Roland Garros. Despite the scorecard being fairly one-sided, this match witnessed a bit of drama as a bout of rain and wind made it increasingly difficult for him to get on with the match. Which in turn has led to a fresh wave of discussion regarding his response to it.

Djokovic was seen arguing with the chair umpire as several reports claimed that the Serb believed that the match should’ve been stopped due to the rain. Although the umpire refused to do so, Djokovic managed to convince the officials to close the rooftop and finish the match on a winning note. However, seeing this, some in the tennis world have now begun to complain about the partiality towards the Serb. But others have a different take on this too. What is it, though?

Both Novak Djokovic and Mackenzie McDonald started their match as strong gusts blew across the iconic Court Philippe-Chatrier, and after a few minutes into the second set, the rooftop had to eventually be closed when it started pouring down a bit heavily. Despite all these hurdles, the three-time champion managed to seal the deal at 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

“I try to enjoy every moment on this very special and beautiful court,” said Djokovic after the match. “I feel good, clearly, even more here because I’m reliving the memories of last year’s Olympics, the last time I played on this court. [They are] beautiful emotions. It was a solid match. I know that he can play to a better standard than today, but I am very happy with what I produced.”

He will now face Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the second round. However, before that, his call for the retractable roof to be closed during the first-round match drew a lot of reactions in the tennis world. Seeing him approaching the chair umpire and supervisor, asking them to close the roof after already witnessing little chunks of clay flying around from the surface, the renowned commentator, Nick Mullins, said, “Well, this does not happen very often, does it? I can’t remember this sort of conversation here for a long time.”

Seeing this, even Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs wrote of her unhappiness to see some on the court getting preferential treatment with the roof. She tweeted, “I’ll say it again. This is SO UNFAIR to every other player playing out there on the outside courts. Nonsense from the referee. He should say, too bad, u have to play no one else is stopping outside. Yes, the weather sucks, the wind sucks but i can tell u, this is unfair for others.”

Just to remind our fans, it was Stubbs who made a bold prediction about Novak Djokovic a few weeks ago. She claimed, “I am going to go on the record. I think we might have seen the best of Novak Djokovic. I think he might surprise us with one tournament win before he retires, but I think we might not see him next year. I don’t care who you are, when you are that great, losing sucks.”

Her comment during that time had created a lot of buzz in the tennis world; now Djokovic has already won one tournament and is also eyeing clinching the big one. But before that, the partiality claims towards the Serb have yet stirred a massive uproar in the tennis world. What are the fans saying, though?

Tennis fans share their opinions on Novak Djokovic’s request

The retractable roof at the center court was added in 2020. But in this match, it remained open during the start of the match, until even Mackenzie McDonald complained about the wind. Now, reacting to Stubbs’ comment, a fan wrote, “Someone should inform Rennae how Alcaraz is currently playing under the closed roof, and to remind her to write how that is “SO UNFAIR to every other player playing out there on the outside courts”. ☝🏼” Carlos Alcaraz recently took on Fabian Marozsan at the Philippe-Chatrier, and even in his match, the rooftop was swiftly closed after a similar situation.

Commenting on the constant criticism that Novak Djokovic has faced after that incident, another fan wrote, “On Lenglen and Chatrier they are playing with the roofs closed while on outside courts the rest are playing in the rain. Nobody is saying anything today, but yesterday, everybody was on fire that Novak-McDonald match was playing with the roof closed.” Which then brings up the question of which players are really receiving unfair treatment.

Reacting to what the conversations were between him and the chair umpire, Novak Djokovic later on clarified, “I was just asking if and when they’re going to make a decision to close the roof and how long we will have to play under that rain. Because it was quite pouring rain out there on the court, and it was affecting the court as well. The court became quite damp, and a lot of bad bounces, etc.”

What was the reply he got from the umpire, then? “And the first information I got from the chair umpire is that ‘they’ decided to wait. So I asked, who’s ‘they’? And where are ‘they’? And he said that it’s the supervisors and others that are deciding to leave it open. And I said, ‘Can I just speak to them so they come and see it?’ Because it’s quite different from the office or stands and actually being on the court.”

Now seeing the partiality claims, another fan wrote, “Ohh come on what nonsense !!! Both players want it to be closed …one TNT commentator is saying ‘this is a stalling tactic from djokovic’.. what do u want to keep on playing in the rain?”

In his press conference, Novak Djokovic also mentioned, “They are, anyway; if they decide to close the roof, they’re going to make us play as we were playing while the roof was closing, so I said, ‘What difference does it make to close it now compared to, say, in 15 minutes or whatever it is?’ McDonald was also complaining about that.” The Serb claimed, “At one point, the supervisor told me they’re playing everywhere on the outside courts in the same conditions, and I said, ‘Yeah, but we are on the court with the roof, so why do you have the roof then? What’s the point?”

Seeing the reaction from Rennae Stubbs, another fan explained the probable reason for Novak Djokovic’s concern by saying, “Your comment is understandable, but he got injured and ended up withdrawing from QF last year, so I also understand him being very cautious & concerned about his safety given the circumstances.”

There has already been a lot of controversy at the French Open. Recently, some of the fans made their annoyance known at seeing Novak Djokovic’s next match getting scheduled at the Court Suzanne-Lenglen instead of the iconic Philippe-Chatrier. Now, seeing this controversy surrounding the rooftop, a fan wrote in defense of Djokovic, “It does matter since you are constantly targeting Djokovic. How do I know this, McDonald complained BEFORE Novak served. The roof was closed AFTER McDonald complained AGAIN, and NOT Novak. You have no complaints about the same treatment TODAY.”

Other than this, the French Open organizers have been under fire from the players due to the lack of women’s matches being scheduled for the night session. Tennis stars like Ons Jabeur criticized Roland Garros, saying, “It’s a bit ironic. They don’t show women’s sport, they don’t show women’s tennis, and then they ask the question, yeah, but mostly they (viewers) watch men. Of course they watch men more because you show men more. Everything goes together.”

However, keeping these controversies aside, the Serb will next take on Corentin Moutet in the second round. Although he has a 2-0 record against the Frenchman, he is well aware of the other threats that he’s going to face in this match. Speaking on the pro-French crowd, he said, “Sometimes it’s not just a battle with the player.” Do you think Djokovic can win this battle?