“Hope they afford Novak Djokovic the same privilege” – Rafael Nadal receiving time-violation for being 4 seconds late annoys tennis fans

Tennis fans were annoyed to see Rafael Nadal receive a time violation for arriving on the court four seconds late from a toilet break during his match against Jason Kubler at Brisbane International 2024.

Nadal downed Kubler 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday, January 4, to book his place in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 event in Brisbane. This was the second win of the Spaniard's comeback to tennis after nearly a year.

Nadal, however, faced a small hiccup during the one-hour-24-minute-long contest on Thursday. After winning the opening set, he went off the court for a toilet break for five minutes. The Spaniard was late by four seconds in returning to the court, and was consequently awarded a warning by the chair umpire.

The official's decision has invited mixed reactions from tennis buffs on X (formerly Twitter). One user was reminded of Novak Djokovic taking long breaks during matches.

"Meanwhile Djokovic will do a full colonic cleanse to change match momentum if he is losing," the user wrote.

Another user hinted at Djokovic too, writing:

"Very funny. Imagine if it was a certain Serb."

A third fan chimed in:

"4 seconds wow. Hope they afford Djokovic the same privilege."

Here are a few more reactions from X:

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Rafael Nadal: "The important thing is the surgery on the psoas-iliac and the hip, that's not bothering me at all"

2024 Brisbane International: Day 1

During the post-match press conference on Thursday, Rafael Nadal admitted to feeling fatigued after the first match of his comeback in Brisbane.

"The positive thing is, first, the two matches haven't been super long matches. Of course, I had some feelings after the first match. I mean, have been a year without playing with the tension of a real match, so I felt a little bit some muscles tired here and there," he said.

The 37-year-old sustained a hip injury in January 2023 at the Australian Open and underwent arthroscopic surgery. Elaborating further on that, Nadal, said:

"In general terms, I felt good. The important thing is the surgery on the psoas-iliac and the hip, that's not bothering me at all. That's something that is super important for me."

Nadal is scheduled to take on Jordan Thompson in the Brisbane International quarterfinals on Friday, January 5. He has defeated Thompson twice in their two career matches thus far.