Novak Djokovic faces his most formidable challenge today in his quest for the eighth Wimbledon title as Jannik Sinner gears up to play his first slam semi-final. At last year’s Wimbledon meeting, the Italian pushed the seven-time champion to five sets. Fans have been eagerly looking forward to it, expecting the two players to deliver a classic again. The game was off to an unexpected start, however.

A rainy afternoon in London forced the organisers to get the roof on. Djokovic comfortably cruised through the opening set 6-3 with no hurdles. However, a controversial call from the umpire grabbed everyone’s attention.

Novak Djokovic loses out on a point because of a hindrance

Three games into the second set, Djokovic was in cruise control after a set and a break lead. It was 15-15 in the fourth game when Djokovic hammered a down-the-line backhand. However, the point was stopped midway and the umpire awarded the point to Sinner. Apparently, the Serb had let out the grunt after hitting the stroke and it continued till the ball was on the other side of the net.

According to the rulebook, it was a right call but the umpires usually let it slide.

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But, umpire Richard Haigh wasn’t one of them. He penalized the Serb rightfully. The crowd was silent as they had not witnessed anything like that before. Djokovic lost the point and Sinner received an opening with the game score being 15-30.

However, the Italian could not quite capitalize on the opening. He got as far as receiving a break point but cool as ever, the Serb saved the break point and held his serve.

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John McEnroe’s comments on the hindrance call

McEnroe was in the commentary box when the incident took place. He came up with a humorous response when asked for his opinion on it. The American said, “Djokovic is a far better man than me (and most players) to just blow this guy off and play.” McEnroe was called ‘SuperBrat’ for a reason. He would not tolerate such controversial calls going against him.

It was quite surprising to see that Djokovic did not react abruptly to it. He was rather level-headed and accepted his mistake.

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