With Bublik serving at 5-5, 40-30 in the decider, Rublev came out on the wrong end of a brief baseline exchange, sending a forehand long. Convinced that the line judge monitoring the baseline had missed a call earlier in the rally, Rublev immediately made a beeline for the official, fingers pursed and hands waving, to demand an explanation for the perceived error. As the crowd whistled and jeered, Rublev stooped to eyeball the seated line judge, coming within less than a racket’s length of his face as he bellowed his displeasure. 

At the ensuing changeover, a Russian-speaking linesman approached the chair umpire, Miriam Bley, alleging that Rublev had called his colleague a “fucking moron” in his native tongue. Rublev denied that he had said any such thing, insisting that he had spoken only in English and did not swear, but the tournament supervisor, Roland Herfel, was unmoved. 

“He’s a Russian-speaking guy, there’s nothing you can do about it,” said Herfel. “That’s you defaulted.”

It was a curious, almost blithe choice of words by Herfel, but despite Rublev’s continued protestations – and Bublik’s laudable insistence that he was happy to play on – Bley subsequently announced a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct and default. That verdict was reportedly contradicted by the referees’ office, which attributed the decision to verbal abuse rather than unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Either way, Rublev was set to forfeit the $158,000 (£124,000) prize money and 200 ranking points he earned for reaching the semi-finals, dropping one place to sixth in the rankings as a result, until the punishment was deemed excessive on appeal.

“The appeal process took into consideration testimonies from the player, officials, as well as a review of all available video and audio materials,” read an ATP statement published on Monday.

“The appeals committee concluded that, beyond forfeiting the match, customary penalties associated with a default – namely loss of rankings points and prize money for the entire tournament – would be disproportionate in this case.”

It is the right outcome, given the available evidence, but how far justice has been served is another matter. While the verdict mitigates Rublev’s losses and offers an endorsement of his integrity – if not his behaviour, which we’ll come to shortly – it cannot rekindle his bid to reach a third straight final at an event where he was crowned champion two years ago.

We shall never know what might have happened had the match been allowed to continue, although the first two sets, both of which went to tiebreaks, suggest it would have been nip and tuck. Instead, Bublik was granted a free pass to the title round, where he was beaten by Ugo Humbert of France, while the crowd and the global TV audience were denied a potentially exciting denouement. A fine and a code violation for unsportsmanlike behaviour would surely have sufficed.

Having disqualified Rublev, however, the ATP had little choice but to reinstate his points and prize money, given the available evidence. Despite the presence of TV cameras and microphones on court, and smartphones in the crowd, there was no conclusive proof that Rublev either spoke in Russian or used foul language. In the footage below, taken from courtside, the player appears to yell in English: “It’s out like this. How? How?” If you listen very closely, it is possible that his tirade began with the word “debil”, Russian for “moron”; possible, but by no means clear. 

What is clear, however, is that there was no evidence of swearing. That is significant because, during his discussion with Rublev, Herfel specifically identified the alleged use of profanity as the chief issue. “He said that you swore in Russian,” said Herfel, gesturing to Rublev’s accuser. “If that’s what you said,” he continued – at which point Rublev interjected, insisting he had said no such thing. It was nonetheless clear where Herfel was going.  

The ATP rulebook states: “Verbal abuse is defined as any statement about an official, opponent, sponsor, spectator or any other person that implies dishonesty or is derogatory, insulting or otherwise abusive.” The Russian expletive “chertovski” would certainly meet that description, yet not one of its three syllables can be heard on any available audio, as is evident from the conclusion of the appeals committee. 

It was suggested in the aftermath of the incident that the side angle shown above failed to capture the beginning of Rublev’s rant, but no alternative footage was produced to support that claim. Many who shot from the lip on social media have been left with egg on their faces.

Predictably, the episode sparked calls for a video review system like the one used in football. Yet such replays have not entirely solved football’s problems and, given that it took almost three days to conclude that there was no film or audio available to confirm the claims made against Rublev, you have to wonder if tennis would be any different. Electronic line calling, on the other hand, which will be introduced across the board at ATP Tour events from next year, would obviously have helped.

What was really wanting, however, was not an immediate review of television footage that proved to be inconclusive in any case, but a clear and logical approach to the situation. At one point in his exchange with Rublev, Herfel remarked: “We will have to see it on video.” No sooner had Rublev concurred – “Can you please first check the cameras, before you trust?” he asked – than the official appeared to alter his position. “No, I have to trust the guy, he’s a Russian-speaking guy,” Herfel replied. The whole thing was a mess and, in the end, all we were left with was one man’s word against another’s.

“How can [the service line judge] say whatever he wants?” Rublev demanded to know. It seemed a reasonable question. The distance from the baseline, where Rublev delivered his broadside, to the service line, where the official who claimed to have overheard everything was positioned, is roughly 17 feet. Given the noise in the stadium – applause for Bublik initially, rapidly giving way to jeers for Rublev – it is legitimate to wonder just how certain the service line judge could have been about what he did or didn’t hear.

“The supervisor has to have a 100% confirmation in front of his eyes before making such a decision,” wrote Rublev’s compatriot Daria Kasatkina on social media. “Once, I paid a huge fine for something I didn’t say, just because the linesman thought she understood what I’m saying.”

None of this is to exonerate Rublev, whose behaviour was disgraceful. A popular but highly-strung character, the Russian has often struggled to keep a lid on his emotions, although in the past he has tended to direct his displeasure at himself. An alarming habit of battering his legs with his racket has frequently left him bloodied and bruised but, in recent months, Rublev’s anger has started to range further afield. 

In fact, his behaviour in Dubai bore uncomfortable echoes of an incident during the final of last year’s Shanghai Masters, where he rounded on a courtside photographer in near-identical fashion after being distracted at a key moment late in the third set. That too earned Rublev a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct, with the chair umpire, Renaud Lichtenstein, obliged to explain that his attitude was “very aggressive”. 

Another ugly moment occurred during December’s Ultimate Tennis Showdown in London, where Rublev mounted the umpire’s chair and thrust three fingers into the official’s face, indicating that he wished to exercise a bonus-point option. A recurring pattern is emerging. Rublev’s battle to curb his emotional excesses is humanising and relatable, but lately his antics have become alienating. It is time he got his house in order.  

Mistakes happen in tennis. Rublev getting in a line judge’s face was one; the decision of tournament officials to play judge, jury and executioner in a case more nuanced than the ensuing social media frenzy suggested was another. The ATP deserves credit for conducting a proper evaluation of the situation, but a $36,400 fine for verbal abuse stands and, of course, Rublev has lost the opportunity to compete for a place in an ATP 500 final.

“I want to thank the appeal committee for approving my appeal and changing course on the ATP’s initial decision of disqualifying me from the Dubai semi-final and taking away the rankings points and prize money I earned last week,” Rublev said in a statement. 

“I hope that in the future, the ATP will take a closer look at this rule and make changes to it, so that an official can’t force a match outcome without having clear evidence.”

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Barely 24 hours after Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from the season-ending championships with a back problem, a first meeting between Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev brought a painful reminder that the rigours of an 11-month season are not always measured purely in strains, sprains and muscle tears. The burden is mental and emotional, too, and there comes a point when the cumulative effects of week-in, week-out pressure and expectation begin to cast a pall on even the very best.

Rublev, a heart-on-sleeve character in whom the attendant frustrations are often particularly visible, certainly ranks among the best. Against Alcaraz, however, the 26-year-old Russian appeared to reach a tipping point. Suffering from illness and beaten in his opening match in Turin by Daniil Medvedev, his close friend and compatriot, Rublev could no longer simply grit his teeth and plough on after falling behind by a set and a break. Instead, he vented his anger on himself by repeatedly thwacking his racket into his left knee. After six swift blows, blood trickled down Rublev’s knee and his challenge drained away with it, the Muscovite sliding to a 7-5, 6-2 defeat. 

It is not the first time Rublev has inflicted such pain on himself, and although the physical damage appeared only skin deep – “It’s OK, nothing happened,” he said afterwards – his mental anguish was clear as he sat with a towel over his head at the final changeover. A semi-finalist in Turin last year, his tournament is over with a match to go this time out. 

“It’s not easy because you always want to finish in a good way,” said Rublev, who will face Alexander Zverev on Friday. “Sometimes you get disappointed when it’s not happening. Today, I got disappointed and couldn’t manage.”

Alcaraz too has been struggling to manage as the season limps to a close. He has searched in vain for his best level since losing to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open semi-finals two months ago and, after losing his opener against Zverev on Monday, the Spaniard went into this match on a three-match winless streak, his worst run in more than two and a half years. But while the free-flowing, instinctive play that carried Alcaraz to six titles in the first half of the season has proved elusive, the Wimbledon champion‘s determination to garner something from his debut appearance at the finals was evident. 

“Beating Rublev, a great player, it gives you a lot of confidence,” said Alcaraz, who created a platform for victory with a brilliant serving exhibition, dropping just two points on his first delivery, and pounded 19 winners to just two unforced errors. 

“Obviously it’s a little bit more special to win after losing in the first match. It was really, really tough for me.  

“You could see I’ve been struggling with my level the last few months, few tournaments. Playing this match [with] this quality, at this level, it’s really helpful for me coming into the third one. I’m really happy to show this level and realise that my level is still there, giving myself a chance in this tournament. “    

Having secured a maiden victory in Turin, Alcaraz will face Medvedev on Friday with his semi-final hopes still alive after the Russian third seed defeated Zverev 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 in the evening match. Medvedev’s 11th win in 18 meetings with the German came after Zverev botched a backhand volley that would have given him a 5-1 lead in the first-set tiebreak. Worse was to come for the two-time champion, who went on to squander two set points as his forehand deserted him. 

“Tight match,” said Medvedev. “I’m happy that I managed to win it, no matter in a way the points and how it went. I felt like lately I could have lost some matches like this, some tiebreaks. I’m happy this time I managed to win it. It’s always great for the confidence.”

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“We were in uncharted territory now,” she intones in a voiceover, “making up history as we went along.”

Much the same may be said of Novak Djokovic, a man whose limb-contorting defensive play has often been likened to the film’s villainous T-1000 cyborg, a shape-shifting android capable of dissolving into liquid metal before reconstituting itself. For Djokovic, there is nothing novel in the idea of making up history on the hoof. On the contrary, it is part of his routine – one he hopes to continue at the ATP Finals in Turin.

Where Djokovic goes, records invariably follow. At last year’s ATP Finals, the Serbian strongman equalled Roger Federer’s landmark haul of six titles, becoming the oldest champion in the event’s history. Should he prevail again this time, Djokovic will not only pull clear of the retired Swiss to claim the record outright, but also put the gloss on an unprecedented eighth year-end No 1 ranking, a distinction that will be guaranteed if he overcomes Holger Rune in his opener on Sunday night. That victory would in turn ensure that the 36-year-old goes on to become the first man ever to hold the top ranking for more than 400 weeks. 

Nor does it end there. Should Djokovic qualify for next year’s finals, he would equal another milestone, matching Federer’s record of 17 appearances at the season-ending championships. By that time, he may well have added another notch or four to his tally of grand slam titles, which currently stands level with Margaret Court at 24, and expanded his record total of 40 Masters 1000 titles, the most recent of which came last week in Paris. 

Even after a season in which he fell just one win short of a calendar grand slam for the second time in three years, Djokovic is determined to keep cutting a swathe through the record books. What drives his relentless ambition?

“I love competing, I love the sport,” said the 36-year-old. “That’s my greatest motivation really, because I’ve made a lot of records, I’ve broken a lot of records and it’s great. Even if I leave professional tennis now and reflect on everything I’ve done, I can be extremely satisfied. 

“So I don’t have pressure to keep on competing, but I still have desire and still have the level. I’m playing at a very high level, so records are there obviously as a huge inspiration as well, no doubt, and history of the sport. I still want to create my own history and history of tennis and see how far I can go.”

With milestones falling like dominoes, can anyone stop the world No 1 in Turin? Rune, the Danish world No 10, has won two of his four meetings with Djokovic and pushed the top seed to a decider in Paris last week. Yet, for all the encouraging signs of resurgence from the 20-year-old following the recruitment of Boris Becker as his coach, it remains to be seen whether a maiden appearance at the season finale will bring a return to the form that carried him to the French Open and Wimbledon quarter-finals. The comedown from those summer highs was steep, Rune suffering seven defeats in eight matches before he finally stopped the rot with a semi-final run in Basel last month. Qualification for Turin ultimately became an end in its own right for the Dane and, after edging out Hubert Hurkacz by just 215 points in the race for eighth spot, it is asking a lot to regroup and go again at this late stage in the season.

“It’s been a big goal for me,” said Rune of clinching his place in Turin. “Being in the season and in the moment, you don’t think so much about it, but as we got closer and the race was very close for me with other players, it was a goal that I really wanted to achieve. I wanted it badly and I got it, so I’m very happy and satisfied with that.”

Green Group is completed by Stefanos Tsitsipas, whose debut victory in London four years ago remains his most notable title to date, and Jannik Sinner, the home favourite, who has qualified by right for the first time after replacing his injured compatriot Matteo Berrettini with two group matches remaining in 2021. Sinner has yet to register a win against Djokovic, while Tsitsipas has beaten the Serb just twice in 13 matches. The pair will open proceedings on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m coming in with a very positive mindset here,” said Sinner, who reached a first grand slam semi-final this summer at Wimbledon and is up to a career-high ranking of fourth after title wins in Beijing and Vienna last month. 

“I’ve had a great year. The last part of the season I played really well, especially the indoor tournaments, and I’m happy to be here. I will try to take a lot of positive energy with the crowd and everything. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I also have to enjoy this moment. I know what I’m capable of, obviously.”

Few have a better insight those capabilities than Carlos Alcaraz, the Spanish second seed and Red Group favourite, who may be quietly relieved to find himself at arm’s length from a player who has won on four of the seven occasions they have met. 

For all the brilliance of a season that has brought six titles, including a first Wimbledon crown, Alcaraz has ample food for thought ahead of his maiden appearance at an event he missed last season with an abdominal tear. The 20-year-old’s hopes of challenging Djokovic for the year-end No 1 ranking were dashed last month by a combination of the back and foot injuries that forced him to withdraw from Basel, and a shock early exit to Roman Safiullin, a Russian ranked 39 in the world, at the Paris Masters. As ever, Alcaraz has been quick to find a silver lining. 

“The defeat in Paris, which was quite painful, made me realise that I have to work harder,” said the Spaniard, who has not won a tournament since Wimbledon. “That’s what I’ve done. You always have to look for the positive in things. I’ve had several days to train to come here in optimum form. I’ve worked hard, on both fitness and tennis. I feel really good.” 

Alcaraz will need to translate those good feelings into good tennis from the get-go if he is to build the momentum he will need to stop Djokovic. He has already contested a pair of epic finals against the Serb this year, first at Wimbledon and then in Cincinnati, and few would say no to a fifth instalment of a rivalry that currently stands all square at two apiece. 

First, though, Alcaraz will need to find a way past two former champions in Daniil Medvedev, his US Open conqueror, and Germany’s Alexander Zverev, whom he will face in his opening match on Monday. Also lying in wait is Andrey Rublev, the Russian world No 5, with whom Alcaraz has never previously crossed swords. Navigating a path out of the group will be far from easy, but the Murcian insists he is ready.

“I’m expecting the Carlos from early this year, despite the results I’ve had in recent tournaments,” said the Spaniard.

Alcaraz is certainly likely to need that version of himself against Medvedev, who will be eager to erase the memory of last year, when he lost each of his three group matches in a final-set tiebreak. The smart money suggests the Russian world No 3 will succeed: few know the course and distance better than Medvedev, who was crowned champion in 2020 and lost the following year’s final to Zverev. Like Alcaraz, the 27-year-old promises to be ready.   

“From the first match, you play against a top 10 player, which never happens on tour other than here,” said Medvedev. “You have to play your best from the first match if you want to try to win the whole thing.”

Nobody does that quite like Djokovic, however, and Alcaraz, Sinner and company will be all too aware that the six-time champion remains the man to beat.   

The post ATP Finals preview: Can anyone stop Djokovic in Turin? appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

The tournament proper was not even underway before Marc Polmans, an Australian ranked 140th, was disqualified for accidentally whacking a chair umpire in the face with a ball in a qualifying match. Then Frances Tiafoe, the American 10th seed, arrived late after missing his flight from Washington.

Meanwhile, the conditions at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena were the focus of hot debate. Daniil Medvedev, seeded second, was unhappy about the speed of the courts (“I don’t know what’s slower, here or Indian Wells,” he said, teasing the potential for another comedic outburst like the one he delivered in the California desert earlier this year). Taylor Fritz, on the other hand, felt the problem lay with the balls (“soft, slow, kind of dead”).

At a tournament where elite status counted for little, neither man had to worry about the situation for long. Nine of the top 10 seeds fell before the quarter-finals, Medvedev and Fritz among them. Not even Carlos Alcaraz, the Wimbledon champion, or Jannik Sinner, the man of the moment following his China Open victory, were immune. With the grand slam season done, and the ATP Finals yet to come, there was a palpable sense of the world’s top players limping towards the finish line at the dog end of an arduous campaign.

Amid the mayhem, Hubert Hurkacz, unfussy and unassuming, brought his customary blend of quiet diligence and thunderous serving to his work. A run to the last four in Cincinnati aside, it has not been the most memorable year for the 26-year-old former Wimbledon semi-finalist, whose sole title came six months ago at an ATP 250 event in Marseille. But after navigating his way to Sunday’s final with a poise and composure that eluded so many of his more celebrated peers, the powerful Pole changed all that, claiming the second Masters 1000 title of his career with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8) win over Andrey Rublev, the lone standard bearer for the top 10.

“Andrey was playing some really good tennis, and I knew I had to produce the shots,” said Hurkacz after recovering from match point down to claim a dramatic victory.

“I was just trying to stay out there and compete as hard as I could, to keep positive self-talk and keep the belief until the end. At the end of the day, it’s a final, and you want to just give it all you’ve got out there.”

With both men outstanding on serve, the first two sets went by in barely an hour. Hurkacz secured the first courtesy of a break in the sixth game, while Rublev slammed a pair of searing forehand winners to claim a decisive breakthrough at the start of the second.

The decider came down to a tale of two aces.

The first came after Rublev was distracted by the movement of a courtside photographer, bringing up a match point for Hurkacz. The Russian fifth seed was warned by Renaud Lichtenstein, the French chair umpire, after furiously berating the offender, but managed to translate his rage into an untouchable 122mph serve before going on to hold for 5-5 with a finely crafted volley.

At that point, it felt as though the odds were beginning to favour Rublev. The 25-year-old Muscovite has bounced back from match point down against Holger Rune, Tallon Griekspoor, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Bernabe Zapata Miralles this season, and anguish was etched in Hurkacz’s features as he timidly netted a sliced backhand to fall 5-2 down in the climactic tiebreak.

But then came the second of those two aces, this time from Hurkacz, who battered down a 135mph effort to deny Rublev a second Masters 1000 success to sit alongside the title he won in Monte Carlo earlier this year. Another followed, his 21st of the day, and although Rublev gamely held off two more championship points, a netted forehand eventually left the Russian ploughing his racket into his thigh in frustration as Hurkacz raised his arms in triumph.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s been such a battle, especially emotionally,” said Hurkacz after claiming the seventh title of his career. “I had a match point before, Andrey hit an amazing serve. Andrey had a match point and then I had some match points, we were going back and forth and it was just such a tricky match.

“It was just one of those matches, you’ve just got to stay in it and keep believing till the end. I’m just super happy with how I managed at the end.”

The win leaves Hurkacz, who claimed his first Masters 1000 title in Miami two years ago, just 335 points behind eighth-placed Rune in the race to the ATP Finals in Turin. It also elevates the affable Pole to 11th in the rankings, his highest position since March and only two spots shy of his career best.

“He is a super great player and it’s so tough to beat him,” said Rublev, for whom it was hard not to feel sympathy. “With him, you can easily lose only [because of] the way he serves. As we could see today, he was serving unreal.”  

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On an afternoon of suffocating heat and humidity at Flushing Meadows, Medvedev peered into a TV camera during his US Open quarter-final win over Andrey Rublev and offered an insight into just how punishing the conditions at court level were.

“You cannot imagine,” said the Russian third seed. “One player is going to die, and then they’re going to see.”

With the mercury touching 33C, Medvedev recovered from a break down in each set to seal a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory in two hours and 48 minutes, although not before taking two medical timeouts. The Russian once again breathed into an inhaler, just as he did in the previous round against Australia’s Alex de Minaur, and both players made liberal use of ice towels and air conditioning hoses at the changeovers. Yet, while spectators were able to vacate the sun-drenched stands, for the players there was little meaningful respite. 

The partial closure of the roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium, a measure introduced this week in response to New York’s late-summer heatwave, appears to have had limited impact. Medvedev said in his on-court interview that at one point he “couldn’t see the ball any more”, and later he elaborated on his concerns about the conditions, citing the example of Yibing Wu, the Chinese player who collapsed in Washington after struggling to breathe.

“Brutal conditions for both of us,” said Medvedev after reaching a fourth US Open semi-final in five years. “We left everything out there.

“The thing is that even if it would go further, I think we would still leave even more. I don’t think I had anything left but, if the match would go on, I would find something more. And the only thing that is a little bit, let’s call it dangerous, is that the question is, how far could we go? 

“Maybe we could go five sets and it would be fine, we would struggle a little bit the next day and it would be fine. Or, we have a person in Yibing Wu who fell down in Washington…  that’s a question mark.”

The nature of the contest hardly made things easier. Rublev is not only a powerful baseline slugger who plays every point with the pedal to the metal, he is also one of Medvedev’s closest friends and the godfather to his daughter. Personal dynamics almost invariably add an additional layer of complication in such circumstances although, having now won six of his eight meetings with his compatriot, Medvedev is familiar with the challenge. For all the 2021 champion’s disquiet about the conditions, his defensive play was of the highest order, with Rublev forever forced to hit one more ball as he searched in vain for a first grand slam quarter-final victory in eight attempts. 

“Obviously the conditions were not easy, but it was [the same] for both,” said Rublev. “Especially against Daniil, [it] doesn’t matter, the conditions. You will always run a lot. You will always get tired because you have a lot of long points.”

Medvedev will now face Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed and defending champion, who eased past Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Unable to convert two break points in the seventh game of the opener, Zverev fell behind in the next game as Alcaraz raised the tempo. A searing forehand return set up an easy put-away and, with the break secured, the Spaniard rapidly receded into the distance, winning seven of the next nine games to establish an unassailable two-set lead.

“In that moment I tried to play my best, I tried to play aggressive,” said Alcaraz. “Juan Carlos [Ferrero, his coach], he forces me to do it, to try to [stick to] my style, playing aggressive. If I miss it, it’s tough to handle losing that opportunity, but we have to keep going like this.”

So far, Alcaraz isn’t missing too often – either here or anywhere else. The 20-year-old has been beaten just once in 18 grand slam matches this season, and at Flushing Meadows he has dropped only one set, against Britain’s Dan Evans in round three. 

After battling for almost five hours to overcome Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the previous round, it was a challenge too far for Zverev. Hampered by a hamstring problem, the German 12th seed struggled in the second set and did well to keep things close in the third.

“I felt something in my hamstring, glute, left side,” said Zverev. “I couldn’t push off on my serve any more. My serve speed was down quite a lot compared to the other days. 

“Against him, especially, I needed a good serving day otherwise it would have been difficult.  My biggest weapon was kind of taken away after the first set, and it’s difficult to even compete if you don’t have that.”

For Alcaraz, meanwhile, a potential rematch with Novak Djokovic draws ever nearer. In a classic Wimbledon final two months ago, the Spaniard handed Djokovic his first Centre Court defeat in a decade, only for the Serb to exact revenge in a three-set thriller in Cincinnati before the US Open. The possibility of a summer trilogy has been the talk of the town ever since the draw was made. 

“It’s closer than the beginning of the tournament,” said Alcaraz. “We are just one match from that potential final. It would be great to play a final against Novak here in New York, but we both have a really tough semi-final, so let’s see.”

At Wimbledon, Alcaraz breezed past Medvedev in the semi-finals. This time, on the Russian’s favourite surface, things are unlikely to be so straightforward – whatever the weather. 

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As fans at the gates railed against lengthy bag checks and body searches, ramped up this year amid fears of environmental protests, spectators expecting to watch Novak Djokovic play tennis were instead treated to the singular sight of the defending champion drying the playing surface with a towel.

The chaos arose after officials allowed play to continue between Djokovic and his Argentinian opponent Pedro Cachin, who opened this year’s proceedings on Centre Court, despite light rainfall towards the end of the first set. Renaud Lichtenstein, the chair umpire, insisted play should continue until the set was complete, at which point the court was covered and the roof closed. By then, however, there was enough moisture on the turf to delay play for almost 90 minutes. 

Scenes that we thought had been consigned to history’s dustbin with the addition of a £100m retractable roof played out anew. Gerry Armstrong, the tournament referee, paced the court anxiously alongside various other officials, periodically feeling the grass to see if it was playable. Neil Stubley, the chief groundsman, who spends his working life tending to the grass as though it were a beloved family member, wore a furrowed brow.

Meanwhile, ground staff armed with leaf blowers were applauded on to the court by Djokovic, who broke off from chatting with Dan Bloxham, the club’s head coach, to urge the crowd to blow on the court. That at least brought some mirth to the proceedings, although it didn’t stop sections of the audience becoming restive. “Get on with it!” spectators implored officials.

When play finally resumed, Djokovic went on to complete a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory, his 29th in a row at Wimbledon, where he has won seven of his 23 grand slam titles. Aside from conceding an early break with a double-fault, the Serb was in the driving seat throughout, immediately hitting back to level after that early aberration before moving smoothly through the gears after the rain delay.

“Strange circumstances with the roof being closed, and us delaying the match for almost an hour and a half,” said Djokovic following his first match since the French Open final. 

“It normally takes 10 to 20 minutes when the roof is closed for the air conditioning to do its job and the grass to dry and be ready for play. That was the case with Court One [where Iga Swiatek defeated China’s Zhu Lin]. 

“We saw that players came back after maybe 15 minutes to Court One, and they resumed play. But we didn’t and we couldn’t.

“Both of us players wanted to come out. We did several times, to show to the crowd that we want to play, we want to be there. But it was just too many places on the court which were too slippery and really moist. Touch the grass and your palm is completely wet.”

Djokovic will face Jordan Thompson in round two after the Australian came back from sets to love down to defeat Brandon Nakashima of the US. Taking advantage of the slick conditions, Thompson turned net rusher after falling behind to seal a 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory.

“I’ve seen a few guys have nightmares out there against him on Centre Court,” said Thompson, ranked 70, of the prospect of facing Djokovic. “Hopefully that won’t be the case for me. I’m going to have to play better than I did in the first two sets today, that’s for sure. 

“I’ve got to believe, as silly as it sounds, that I can win, or else there is no point going out there. I know the odds are firmly against me.”

Andrey Rublev, seeded seventh, marked his return to Wimbledon following last year’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win over another Australian, Max Purcell. Rublev, who made his opposition to the Ukraine war plain last year in Dubai, where he scrawled “No war, please” on a TV camera lens, said afterwards that he felt last summer’s blanket ban was a mistake.

“We were talking, and I think we could find the solution,” said Rublev. “If we really want to help or do what is better for tennis and for the people, I think obviously there were better options. Not just to ban. 

“In the end, was no difference. They did only worse to themselves. So in the end, I think, that there were for sure options to do much better for everyone.”

Casper Ruud, the Norwegian fourth seed, came through 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 against French qualifier Laurent Lokoli, but Felix Auger-Aliassime was an early casualty, beaten 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 by Michael Mmoh of the US. It was a first main draw Wimbledon victory for Mmoh, a lucky loser ranked 119 in the world.

“I knew it was going to be tough and it was,” said Auger-Aliassime, who has been struggling with knee tendon injury and pulled out of Halle. “But it’s a grand slam. I wanted to come and give myself a chance.”

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There was nonetheless no shortage of drama as Djokovic, the third seed, kept his quest for a record 23rd grand slam title on track at Roland Garros with a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Having stirred controversy earlier in the week by scrawling a political message on a TV camera lens, and then quipped that he was “trying to impersonate Iron Man” after cameras picked up a nanotechnology patch fixed to his chest during his win over Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, Djokovic offered a reminder here that he is indeed made of tough stuff. 

Davidovich Fokina, seeded 29th and 13 years Djokovic’s junior, defeated the Serb in their only previous meeting, last year in Monte Carlo, and once again he subjected the world No 3 to the sternest of examinations. Djokovic spent much of the match digging balls out of either corner as the flamboyant Spaniard unleashed a relentless baseline barrage, interspersing his assault with moonballs, lobs and some exquisite drop shots. 

Davidovich Fokina, a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros two years ago, served for the first set and had a set point in the second. Had he made good on the latter opportunity, the battle would probably have raged well into the evening. But Djokovic is rarely found wanting at the big moments, and he stepped up to win a controlled and obdurate 18-stroke rally that left Davidovich Fokina exhausted and hunched over on the baseline, gasping for air. 

Djokovic being Djokovic, the drama did not there.

With the ensuing tiebreak won, the two-time champion celebrated wildly, raising hackles in the stands with a fist-punching 360-degree twirl. A chorus of boos rang out, and there were further jeers when Djokovic subsequently took a medical timeout for treatment on his left leg. It was a bizarre moment: Davidovich Fokina had left the court for a bathroom break, so the Serb was not delaying the resumption of play. But the Parisian crowd, which derided Taylor Fritz long and loud after his victory over the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech the previous evening, famously marches to the beat of its own drum.

“They are people, they’re groups or whatever, that love to boo every single thing you do,” said Djokovic. “That’s something that I find disrespectful and I frankly don’t understand that. 

“But it’s their right. They paid the ticket. They can do whatever they want. At times I will stay quiet. Not at times, actually, 99% of the time I will stay quiet. Sometimes I will oppose that, because I feel when somebody is disrespectful, you know, he or she deserves to have an answer to that.”

Asked whether the treatment he received was for a specific injury, Djokovic declined to elaborate. He did, however, offer a candid insight into his physical state at this stage of his career.

“We don’t have much time to start to name the many injuries I have, and the list is quite long,” said Djokovic. “I don’t want to sit here and talk about these things that are not preventing me from playing.

“These are the circumstances that you, as a professional athlete, have to deal with. Accept it. Sometimes you need help from the physio during the match. Sometimes you need pills. Sometimes you need help from the god or angels, sometimes you just have to deal with the reality.”

With a two-set lead established in gruelling fashion, Djokovic moved through the gears relatively swiftly in the third, breaking twice without reply to seal victory. It was nonetheless the longest three-set match of his career at a major, eclipsing his defeat to Korea’s Hyeon Chung at the 2018 Australian Open by 15 minutes. Despite his chequered build-up to Roland Garros, which included an elbow injury and defeats to Lorenzo Musetti in Monte Carlo, fellow Serb Dusan Lajovic in Banja Luka, and Holger Rune in Rome, Djokovic has yet to drop a set. Nor can he complain that he has not had the chance to play himself into form. 

“I don’t remember when I played last time three hours, two sets,” said Djokovic. “If I lost one of the first two sets, it was looking like it was going to go four, five hours.

“It was a day and conditions that were, I think, very challenging for both players physically. Lots of exchanges. Serve was really not an advantage for either of us. It was cat and mouse every single point, trying to outsmart your opponent. 

“We were doing a lot of running. Not just left, right, but forward and backward, especially when he was playing from that end where he was playing against the wind, he was drop-shotting a lot. He was making me work for every point. 

“I just have to be, in the end of the day when I draw a line, very content to win this match in three sets.”

There was no such comfort for Andrey Rublev, who let a two-set lead slip as he was undone by Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Sonego, into the fourth round of a major for the first time, will face Karen Khachanov next after the Russian 11th seed prevailed 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) against Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis on Court Simonne Mathieu.

“I played, I think, my best tennis this year,” said Sonego, the world No 48. “There were a lot of things in my mind, but I tried to stay focused every point and enjoy the moment.

“Obviously a big emotional moment for me and for my team, for my family.”

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Two years after he first made the final in Monte Carlo, Rublev beat Holger Rune of Denmark 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to win his first Masters 1000 final, at the third time of asking, and disprove the old adage that nice guys finish last. 

The Russian earned the biggest victory of his life the hard way, too, recovering from a set down for the second day in succession and twice fending off break points that would have left him trailing 5-1 in the final set. It was a triumph of perseverance from a former junior world No 1 whose senior career, which includes seven grand slam quarter-finals, has been all about perseverance.

“After struggling so much, so many times, losing in the finals, semi-finals, losing even earlier, [I] struggled so much to win a first 1000 Masters, and finally I did it,” said Rublev. “I did it in Monaco, [a] really historic tournament. It’s a pleasure to be part of it.”

“To win a match like this, losing 4-1, 0-30, breakpoint for 5-1, and to be able to come back and to win, is like a fairy tale.”

Rublev, an understated 25-year-old Russian ranked sixth in the world, has been threatening to win big for a while now, certainly since defeating Rafael Nadal on the way to the final of the Monte Carlo Masters two years ago. Vanquished by Stefanos Tsitsipas on that occasion, he lost out again four months later in the final of Cincinnati, where he was handily beaten by Alexander Zverev. He blamed his repeated setbacks on his mentality, but never stopped believing he would ever get over the threshold. He just didn’t know when. 

“Everyone has their own weaknesses,” Rublev reflected at the Astana Open last October, just weeks after he was reduced to tears by a quarter-final defeat to Frances Tiafoe. 

“My weakness is mental, and little by little there are improvements.”

It is that kind of openness and vulnerability that makes Rublev so relatable. He has never sought to hide his emotions, never been afraid to show how badly he wants to win. Happily, he has tempered his tendency to inflict injury on himself with his racket, but frustration rarely feels more than an unforced error away.  

Rublev’s demons resurfaced after he lost the opening set of his semi-final against Taylor Fritz, the furious Muscovite retreating to the bathroom and telling himself: “Good job… because of your head again, one more semi-final you lost.” Except he didn’t. Rublev steeled himself, returned to the court and came through a lengthy rain delay to win. 

It proved to be a dress rehearsal for his meeting with Rune, who won the opening set but lost control of his temper late in the match, hammering a pair of balls out of the stadium after twice missing overheads as he served at 5-5 in the decider. Rublev might have suffered such an implosion himself in the past, particularly after missing 13 of his 19 break points. But as Rune earned a code violation for his troubles, the shoe was on the other foot for once. Although Rublev worked his way through his usual repertoire of anguished grimaces and rants, he retained his composure to the last. Serving for the match, he slammed down a fifth ace of the afternoon to complete a love hold before his features finally crumpled with the emotion of a dream fulfilled. 

“In those moments, every match when you have break point, if you [feel] too much pressure, you feel stress, you want to make it,” said Rublev. “It’s like, ‘I prefer to break now and then to feel a bit more advantage.’ 

“Like every match, sometimes you make it straightaway, sometimes it takes time. But today I handled my emotions really well.”

For Rune, it was perhaps one match too many after the exertions of the previous day. True, both men had been required to battle through rain delays and the loss of the opening set, but Rublev completed his victory over Taylor Fritz several hours before Rune’s emotionally-charged win over Jannik Sinner. The Dane, who won a maiden Masters title in Paris last November, showed signs of fatigue down the stretch. But while he missed the chance to emulate Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, the only players to win multiple titles at 1000 level on different surfaces, he also had the maturity to recognise that the bigger prize lies ahead.

“I was definitely in control in the third set and also, I would say, mostly in the first set as well,” said Rune. “But again, didn’t manage to close it out. 

“Disappointing, but it’s part of tennis. Just got to see what I did wrong, what I can do better, and move on, because, you know, the most important tournament of the clay season is the French Open. 

“If I can prepare myself as best as possible for that one, that’s what matters.”

With his Masters hoodoo finally broken, Rublev may feel much the same. For now, though, he is content with what he has. 

 “I know it’s tough to lose in a final, but you’re too freaking young, man,” he joked as he addressed Rune on court. “You already have won a 1000 title, at least give me one time to win it.”

After all Rublev has been through to reach this milestone, few would begrudge him that much. 

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For two players whose forte lies in pounding huge serves and ripping forehands, it was hardly an environment in which to showcase their best tennis, and unsurprisingly the outcome was largely determined by their handling of the conditions. That Rublev came through 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the third Masters 1000 final of his career – and second in three years in Monte Carloo – was down to the 25-year-old Russian’s belated realisation that, for all the frustration of breaking three times only to drop the opening set, it was a day when serving came with no guarantees.

“The first set was tough, because when you are three times up with a break and you’re losing your serve and then you lose the set, you feel really, really mad,” said Rublev, who will face Holger Rune in Sunday’s final after the Danish sixth seed likewise came from behind to defeat Jannik Sinner 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. 

“But then I started to think that the conditions are really tough. Most of the breaks that I lost, Taylor played really aggressive. 

“So then I started to think, ‘The conditions are like this.’ I also broke him many times and I had chances, so I just tried to keep playing, to focus on my serve even more. I did this in the second set, and I was able to turn around the situation. 

“The third set was the same story. He broke me, and I tried to think that it was the conditions, that I would have chances. I had chances before, I broke him in the second set many times, so I will have at least one chance to break him back. Then I broke him straightaway.”

At that point, after Rublev had broken with a searing backhand down the line to level at 2-2, the light rain that had been falling steadily throughout suddenly became heavier. Rublev raced through his next service game, holding to love with the help of two massive forehands, before the players were forced off court for almost two hours. 

As fortune had it, play halted one game before a change of balls was due, meaning Fritz was obliged to play his opening service game with the same wet, heavy balls that had been in use when they stopped. Rublev was the quicker to settle, defying a blustery wind to break as he concluded a 34-shot rally by chasing down a drop shot to land a backhand plum on the baseline. Fritz would win only one more game.

“I don’t think it was ideal for me to come back from the break and be the one serving with the damp clay, you know, heavy balls from when we were playing when it was raining,” said Fritz, who was never able to reproduce the kind of clean, clinical ball-striking that had earned him victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, the double defending champion, the previous day. 

“I think it was very tough to come and play that first game and then go straight into a ball change.”

The second semi-final followed a similar pattern, with Sinner taking the lead only to struggle to get the ball through the court following a rain delay. Unlike Fritz, however, who by his own admission won the opening set partly because the conditions forced him to adopt a safety-first approach, Sinner was at his imperious best early on, overpowering Rune from the baseline and motoring through his service games. 

A lull was inevitable at some point, and it came at the start of the second set. He nudged a backhand wide to lose a seesaw service game, Rune held to consolidate the advantage, and Sinner, now trailing 3-0, was never the same after the suspension of play that followed.

“It changed when we went out of the court and with the rain, and after was much slower, for sure,” said Sinner, who fell behind 5-2 on the resumption of play.

“After the rain delay, I had a difficult time.”

The 21-year-old nonetheless fought his way back into contention, levelling the second set at 5-5 after saving two set points, and with Rune beginning to look tight, a straight-sets win began to seem possible. Instead, the confrontational 19-year-old went into Medvedev mode, putting a finger to his lips to silence the baying Italians in the crowd in a manner that, predictably enough, succeeded only in inciting them further. 

Rune seemed to thrive on the discord that followed, ignoring the pleas of Carlos Bernardes, the chair umpire, not to get involved, repeatedly putting a finger to his ear as the jeers rained down. His game once again clicked into gear and, before long, he was level. Sinner fought tooth and nail down the stretch, fending off five break points before he was undone by a pair of unforced errors in the final game. 

Sinner offered a frosty handshake at the end. No doubt he was still seething after an incident in the eighth game, where Rune, not for the first time, almost struck him after lashing out at a ball that had been called long. Sinner, forced into evasive action, cut an animated figure in the minutes that followed, orchestrating the crowd as he navigated a tricky hold. He declined to discuss his opponent’s antics afterwards. 

“I don’t want to comment,” said Sinner, whose reticence spoke volumes.

Rune, who will contest the second Masters 1000 final of his career following his win over Novak Djokovic in Paris last November, was unrepentant.

“My relationship with the crowd was awesome, if you ask me,” said the teenger. “You had so much energy on the court, which is fun. I guess if you ask the crowd, I think they would prefer that than two guys looking down and doing nothing.

“I thought it was a great match. I would probably say not level-wise, but one of the best tennis matches that I have played in my life.”

Rune may have to play another tomorrow: Rublev, who will be desperate to win a first Masters title, survived two match points to defeat him when they last met at the Australian Open in January.

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Will there be another tale of the unexpected this year? With Djokovic once again unable to enter the United States, Nadal still working his way back from injury and Federer enjoying his retirement on the ski slopes of Switzerland, the outlook is encouraging. The sense of opportunity is all the more palpable for the fact that the chief contenders all arrive in the Coachella Valley with questions to answer about their form, fitness or track record at the event.

First quarter

Take Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, who has the chance to reclaim the No 1 ranking from Djokovic if he can land a first title. On the one hand, the 19-year-old has achieved some good results since returning from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the Australian Open. But having won a title in Buenos Aires last month and then advanced to the final of the Rio Open, Alcaraz aggravated the muscle again and was subsequently forced to pull out of Acapulco.

The Spaniard, who looked sharp in practice against Frances Tiafoe, insists he has made a full recovery. The proof, as he sets his sights on a swift return to top spot, will come in a potentially tricky opener against Australian powerhouse Thanasi Kokkinakis.

“I feel great,” said Alcaraz, who refuses to see himself as the title favourite at his first hard-court event since last November. “I took some days off and it was really good for me. Right now, I’m ready.

“For me, winning the tournament and being No 1 again is a really good goal, and I really want to go for it.”

Second quarter

To do so, Alcaraz may have to go through Fritz, the defending champion and fourth seed, whom he will face in the semi-finals if the seedings hold. The early months of 2023 have been a mixed bag for the 25-year-old Californian, who was beaten early at the Australian Open but went on to win his first title of the season in Delray Beach last month, either side of semi-final appearances in Dallas and Acapulco. The alarming nature of Fritz’s exit at the latter event, where he narrowly avoided hospitalisation following a gruelling three-set battle with Tommy Paul in fierce humidity, was hardly ideal preparation for his return to the scene of last year’s breakthrough win against Nadal. 

Fritz will open his title defence against his 20-year-old countryman Ben Shelton, a surprise quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, in a contest that will not want for firepower. Assuming he negotiates that potential banana skin, he is seeded to meet Alex De Minaur in the round of 16 and either Holger Rune or Jannik Sinner in the quarters. Like Fritz himself, all are recent title winners. If the American makes his scheduled appointment with Alcaraz, he will have earned it.

Third quarter

What of Casper Ruud, the third seed? After the highs of last year, when he made a trio of big finals at Roland Garros, the US Open and the ATP Finals, Ruud has endured a slow start to this season, winning just two of his four matches so far. The Norwegian, who took most of February off to recover from the abdominal problem that hampered him during his shock second-round loss to Jenson Brooksby at the Australian Open, could have wished for an easier first opponent than Diego Schwartzman. The recent illness of his father has weighed heavily on Schwartzman but, while the Argentinian’s results have understandably suffered, the fact remains that he has won five of his eight meetings with Ruud – including a straight-sets victory in Indian Wells two years ago. 

With Ruud under pressure to rediscover the form that carried him to the Miami Open final last spring, Daniil Medvedev, his prospective quarter-final opponent, is the obvious favourite to come through the third quarter of the draw. The Russian, seeded fifth but playing tennis befitting of a world No 1, is targeting a fourth straight title following a remarkable run of success in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, where he ended Djokovic’s unbeaten start to the season. Yet Indian Wells has not been a happy hunting ground for the 27-year-old, who has only once made it to the round of 16. Medvedev, who will open his challenge against Brandon Nakashima, the rising American who won his first ATP title in nearby San Diego last autumn, is taking nothing for granted. 

“New tournament, new story,” he mused in Dubai as he contemplated his prospects of extending a run of 14 straight wins. 

Fourth quarter

Then again, with only six victories from 11 previous outings in the California desert, perhaps a new narrative is just what Medvedev needs. Particularly since, should he make it through to the last four, he would potentially face Stefanos Tsitsipas, the second seed, who has got the better of him in their two most recent meetings. What an occasion that would be, after Medvedev used his Dubai winner’s speech to take a thinly veiled swipe at Tsitsipas over his snarky aside about Andrey Rublev at the ATP Finals, where the beaten Greek remarked that Rublev “managed to prevail with the few tools he has”.

“Hopefully [Rublev] can beat this guy many, many times – and I wish this for you,” said Medvedev, who is a close friend of his compatriot.

If the sixth-seeded Rublev can pick up from where he left off in Dubai, a first opportunity to fulfil that wish could come as soon as the quarter-finals. Tsitsipas, who has struggled with a shoulder injury in the weeks since his barnstorming run to the Australian Open final, has not played competitively since his early exit in Rotterdam three weeks ago. For now, he is just happy to be back on court.  

“It has been a while since I stepped on a court and played a match, so it is great being back,” said Tsitsipas, who opens against Jordan Thompson, the Australian world No 87. 

“I might not be at the best with the way I am feeling on the court right now, but I am pleased to have the opportunity to compete.”

With Tsitsipas potentially vulnerable and Rublev, a semi-finalist last year, in a solid run of form, much could depend on the Russian’s second-round meeting with Jiri Lehecka, the rising Czech who upset him at the Qatar Open last month. 

Nor should the claims of Norrie, the 2021 champion, be overlooked. The British 10th seed, who avenged his defeat to Alcaraz in the Argentina Open final by pipping the Spaniard to the post at the Rio Open, opens against Taiwan’s Tung-Lin Wu. 

Also lurking, in what feels like the most open section of the draw, is Frances Tiafoe, who offered such a stirring demonstration of what he can on a home-soil hard court by reaching the semi-finals of last year’s US Open. Tiafoe opens against another American, the 73rd-ranked Marcos Giron, ahead of a projected fourth-round meeting with Tsitsipas.

Semi-final predictions: Alcaraz to beat Rune; Medvedev to beat Lehecka.

Final prediction: Alcaraz to beat Medvedev.

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