Novak Djokovic was left surprised by a new ATP Tour rule and he voiced his opposition in his latest match at the 2024 Shanghai Masters.
In 2024, the Serbian won't be playing as much as he used to. His schedule is much more limited. He wants to spend time with his family and that's one of the main reasons why fans won't see him play as much as he used to.
Another obvious reason is the 37-year-old's health and recovery.
During his professional career, Djokovic has experienced many different rules and changes over the past two decades, including the introduction of Hawk-eye, then electronic error signals, then ball boys no longer handing towels to players and stopwatches.
The stopwatch is one of those additions that many older players have trouble getting used to. Most notably, Rafael Nadal is one of the players who takes the longest to prepare between points.
Djokovic is also from the older generation of players. However, he has gotten used to the stopwatch quite quickly, although like all players, he has had a few time violations.
Things are changing even more in the second half of the 2024 season. At the ongoing Shanghai Masters, the stopwatch is automatic, meaning it starts automatically after a shot is finished.
Previously, the referee would decide that.
That is, on a human level, the umpire may sense that, after a long rally, the players will need more time to recover, starting the stopwatch later.
After short rallies, this is really unnecessary, as players usually don't spend nearly 25 seconds after an ace.
With the new rule change, many players have been breaking time. Frances Tiafoe lost her first serve after two time violations and argued with the umpire after the match.
Stefanos Tsitsipas had a similar experience, and he criticized the referee both during and after the match.
With Djokovic, in his most recent match, he defeated Roman Safiullin in 2 sets, 6-3, 6-2, Djokovic complained to referee Nacho Forcadell about the new rule which he found 'unbelievable'.
"I understand it's not your decision. But changing the rule is unbelievable. For four years, we've had a situation where we can't get towels. The ball boys try their best, but they're not trained.
Without even informing any of the players, they started implementing this new rule. It's unbelievable, really."
It's clear Nole sees the purpose behind the stopwatch, which is to speed up the game, but he's not happy about the change coming mid-season instead of during the off-season when it could have been communicated properly to the players.
Djokovic has now reached the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters for the 10th consecutive time.
