Novak Djokovic has said he was ‘surprised’ by the decision made by the organisers at the Western and Southern Open to make fellow world No.1 Naomi Osaka play her third round match on a smaller court.
Thursday at the Cincinnati tournament saw all 16 third round matches get played. Djokovic, who is the defending champion, played his match on centre court along with rival Roger Federer, Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina. Meanwhile, the Grandstand Court featured the likes of Ash Barty, Daniil Medvedev and Simona Halep. Overall, six out of the 10 matches that took place on the two premier courts were from the men’s draw.
Two-time grand slam champion Osaka was made to play her match on Court 10, which has no Hawk-Eye system in place. The world No.1 ousted Hsieh Su-wei 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2, after two-and-a-half hours of play. Reaching the quarter-finals of a WTA Tournament for the second week in a row. Something she last achieved back in May.
“I was surprised to be honest.” Djokovic commented following his straight sets win over Pablo Carreno Busta.
“Obviously, in a combined event, it’s always tricky because someone will have to go out from the first court or first two courts. But she’s No. 1. So I think she deserves to be at least on the grandstand if not centre court.”
Osaka herself played down the debate over the scheduling of her match, but admitted to finding it ‘funny.’ It is not the first time this year where there has been questions raised over the scheduling of matches in the combined events. At the Wimbledon championships the then world No.1 Barty was made to play her fourth round match on Court Two during Manic Monday.
“I’m the type of person that will play on any court.” Said Osaka.
“I thought it was a bit funny, especially since, like, that’s kind of a doubles court in a way. Because I saw there was a lot of doubles matches on there. But, I mean, I’ll play on whatever court.”
Osaka will take on Sofia Kenin in her next match, which will take place on Center Court.
The Kyrgios fiasco
Another hotly debated topic at the tournament is Nick Kyrgios’ latest meltdown. The Australian was fined more than $100,000 for a series of violations committed during his third round match against Karen Khachanov, which he lost in three sets. Kyrgios were heard calling umpire Fergus Murphy a “F***ing tool” and at one stage left the court without permission to smash two of his rackets. The ATP has since said they are investigating to see if any further action needs to be taken.
“It’s more of a decision of, I think, combined between ATP and the tournament, I think, depending on the severity of the behaviour of the player. So it’s tough to really judge, to say what’s right, what’s wrong, whether it should be more or less.” Djokovic commented on the fine.
“The match was, I thought, a great quality match in terms of tennis for a couple of sets. And then Khachanov just was tougher in the end.”
Djokovic, who is a member of the ATP player’s council, has always paid attention to what is going on in the sport around him. Something he feels that he has a duty to do.
“Of course I do follow what’s going on. Not every match, not every court, not everything, because I also have a life off the tennis court, as well, and things that interest me.” He explained.
“Of course I follow it. It’s part of me, part of my life, part of my career. I also enjoy it. But I also have the responsibility to follow because of my role in the council.”
The 32-year-old is the only top eight seed remaining in the men’s draw. He will play France’s Lucas Pouille in the quarter-finals on Friday. Djokovic dropped only four games against Pouille in their first meeting earlier this year at the Australian Open.
