"The court was not the way Novak Djokovic wanted" - Alex Corretja weighs in on Serb's issues with French Open groundsmen amid Serb's injury withdrawal

Alex Corretja has commented on Novak Djokovic's frustrations with the French Open groundsmen amidst the Serb's withdrawal from the clay court Major due to a knee injury. The World No. 1 had requested the court be swept during his fourth-round match at Roland Garros, but his request was denied by the groundsmen and the tournament supervisor.

Djokovic was the top seed, and he entered the French Open with hopes of defending his title. He started strong by defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round and Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round. He then defeated Lorenzo Musetti and Francisco Cerundolo in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, to advance to the quarterfinals, where he was set to face seventh-seeded Casper Ruud.

However, during the final set of his fourth-round match against Cerundolo, the Serb slipped and fell on the court due to its deteriorating condition. He requested the chair umpire to have the court swept but his plea was denied.

The fall resulted in a knee injury for the World No. 1, who later revealed that an MRI scan confirmed that he had torn the medial meniscus in his right knee. This forced him to withdraw from the French Open ahead of his quarterfinal clash against Ruud.

Reflecting on Novak Djokovic's complaints against the groundsmen, chair umpire, and tournament supervisor, Alex Corretja revealed that the Serb had expressed concerns about the slippery court even before his fourth-round match began at Philippe-Chatrier.

“When Novak Djokovic went on court this afternoon for his warm-up, he went on centre court, right after [Aryna] Sabalenka's match. He already spoke with the groundsmen. Before he started the practice, he was walking around and looking into the clay, and the first 2-3 shots he hit, he went to them [the groundsmen], and he said, ‘Something I don’t like.’ So after 30 seconds, even before he noticed something, he was mentioning that the court was a little bit slippery,” Corretja said [via Eurosport].

Corretja revealed that he also spoke with the groundsmen, who acknowledged that the court conditions were less than ideal.

“So I asked the groundsmen, and they said, 'Well, you know the conditions have changed dramatically; we need to figure out if we need to put in some more clay or not.’ So they were trying their best, but definitely for Novak, he was just slipping all the time,” he added.

Corretja emphasized that Novak Djokovic's grievances were not about the court's quality, but because it was not the way he wanted.

"Definitely, it was not a complaint because the court was not good enough; it was because maybe it was not the way he wanted. What I’m saying is that it was not only during the match; it was already before he felt something," Corretja said.

Novak Djokovic reveals his reason for frustrations against the groundsmen: "Just asked for an explanation, I'm not pointing fingers at someone"

French Open 2024

During the post-match press conference following his win over Francisco Cerundolo, Novak Djokovic stated that his frustration with the groundsmen, chair umpire, and tournament supervisor was simply because he wanted an explanation for why his request to have the court swept was denied.

The Serb revealed that he was not looking to assign blame, but rather seeking clarity on the decision.

"I just asked for an explanation. I'm not pointing fingers at someone, blaming whoever, a group or an individual. I'm just trying to understand the whole process. What is the damage to the court? We sweep it anyway, we do it with our feet before we serve," he said.

The World No. 1 stated that he wanted to comprehend why it was deemed difficult to sweep the court, and why the response from the chair umpire and tournament supervisor was consistently negative.

"I'm just trying to understand why it is so complicated to do that and why is that the answer is constantly no. I'm sure that the grounds people have their hands full and I know they're working very hard. I'm not saying that they are doing it the wrong way, absolutely not. They're doing their best," he added.