MADRID: World No.1 Novak Djokovic has backed the use of a 25-second policy on the tour despite being penalized for breaking the rule three times.
During his semi-final clash with Dominic Thiem, he was hit with a total of three time violations. Two of which resulted in him losing a first serve. Under current rules on the tour, players are allowed a maximum of 25 seconds between points. Should they violate that rule, they are eligible to be punished by the umpire. In recent months a clock has been implemented onto the court’s for player’s to monitor their time.
“I think 25 (seconds) is fair, more than enough time.” Said Djokovic. “It is just that sometimes the rules are basically that the chair umpire starts the clock only when he calls the score.”
“I noticed a couple of times today the chair umpire started the clock during, while he was calling the score. So that’s obviously something I don’t agree with. But at the same time, 25 seconds is plenty, in my opinion, of course.” He added.
Those violations appeared to had little impact on Djokovic during the match. In the game where he received two violations within three points, he fended off two break points. One of which was with an ace. However, the Serbian admits that it can be a challenge for him and his rituals. The world No.1 usually starts points by bouncing the ball a certain number of times beforehand.
“It does play with your mind at times. You feel like you need more (time) because different factors are affecting that particular circumstance, whether the towel is late, or you drop a ball, or whatever it is, you want to get maybe time in the shade before coming back in.” He explained.
“All of these things spend a lot of seconds for you. And when you get to your line and then when you start with your own routine — and my routine is ball bouncing, which is not very complimentary to this rule (smiling) and it gets you in a position to get time violation.”
Djokovic isn’t the first player to violate the 25-second policy and he won’t be the last. Rival Rafael Nadal is a well-known critic of the use of a shot clock. Which is aimed at speeding up matches. Speaking to reporters last year, he argued that the rules could have a negative impact on the quality of tennis played on the tour.
In contrast, Thiem has a different perspective. At one stage, he briefly averaged longer than the 25-second limit, according to data from TennisTV. Although he managed to escape punishment. Speaking about the rule, the Austrian affirmed his support. Saying the penalties given to those who violate it are right.
“I really liked the shot clock. It was a good addition to the game, I think.” Said Thiem.
“It’s also okay to take away the first serve from the player if he exceeds the time. I think that’s completely fine. It was twice today. One time, he hit me with an ace with the second serve, unbelievable, so that was also not going all my own way.”
Earlier this year Wimbledon announced that they will not be implementing a shot clock this year, but are likely to in 2020.
