"The umpire has clearly never watched Carlos Alcaraz play tennis" - Tennis fans furious over hindrance penalty for Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon

Defending champion Novak Djokovic took an early two-set lead against Jannik Sinner in the 2023 Wimbledon Championships' semifinal on Friday at Centre Court, but it wasn't all smooth sailing to a 6-3, 6-4 scoreline at the end of nearly two hours of play.

Djokovic let out a grunt during an exchange in the second set, and the umpire stopped the point, which the Serb disagreed with. The 23-time Major champion was clearly in disbelief as he approached the umpire's chair and asked what he was doing.

The controversial decision took even BBC commentator Todd Woodbridge aback, who said:

"I feel like Richard's been waiting to make that call for a while. I'm not sure that it's worth him interjecting into the match like he has just done. I think that maybe could have been a word to Novak at the changeover to just be aware before giving that. That's rough."

Tennis fans were apparently dissatisfied with the decision and took to Twitter to express their feelings.

According to one user, Djokovic was not at fault because the grunt was not extended and it was unusual to see such a call coming from the umpire.

The user wrote:

"The thing is it was not an extending grunt... it was actually just a very late grunt, he did not start it until the ball was on the other side of net...but really unusual to see this kind of hidrance."

Another user suggested that if this was a case of hindrance, then Carlos Alcaraz's matches should be penalized because he screams right through the opponent's point.

The user tweeted:

"Then evry alcaraz match is a hindrance. He screams literally right throughout the opponent point. I hope to see the umpire hold the same standard for him."

Another account appeared to have the same thought, drawing parallels between Djokovic's incident and those of Alexander Bublik and Carlos Alcaraz, saying:

"How many players grunt in a distracting way on every pint? On that famous point Bublik did the same against Rublev but nobody said a thing. And let’s not forget Alcaraz’s grunt that literally sounds like a call out lol."

Here are a few more reactions from fans:

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Novak Djokovic is aiming to equal Roger Federer's Wimbledon record

Novak Djokovic pictured at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

Novak Djokovic has won the last four editions of Wimbledon and will attempt to win the trophy for the eighth time this year to equal Roger Federer's men's record and move one behind nine-time champion Martina Navratilova.

The 36-year-old is also vying for a men's record-extending 24th Grand Slam title and the World No. 1 ranking. He was a set away from being eliminated by Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals of the grass-court major last year before a stunning comeback.

If the Belgrade native defeats the Italian this year in the semifinals, he has a good chance of facing Carlos Alcaraz in the title bout, assuming Alcaraz avoids the bullet in the name of Daniil Medvedev.