Novak Djokovic wins at Wimbledon but is far from happy, as he hits out at state of Centre Court and rescheduling

The fourth seed described the All England Club's decision to postpone his match as 'wrong', and was also less than impressed with the state of the playing surface on Centre Court

Djokovic frequently complained to the umpire about the state of the playing surface (Getty)

Novak Djokovic yesterday bemoaned the state of Centre Court and criticised the All England Club’s (AELTC) decision to postpone his fourth round Wimbledon match, in a bad-tempered press conference following his 6-2 7-6 6-4 victory over Adrian Mannarino.

Djokovic was initially scheduled to play Mannarino on Monday evening on No 1 Court, after Rafael Nadal’s match against Gilles Muller. But with that match lasting almost five hours, a decision was taken by the AELTC to postpone Djokovic’s match until Tuesday.

In a statement, the AETLC said moving the match to Centre Court on Monday evening would have hampered the “safety and security” of fans. But Djokovic described the postponement as “the wrong decision”.

“We spoke with the referee and supervisors, trying to understand the thought process they were having,” he said yesterday. “I just think it was a wrong decision not to play us on Monday night, because we could have played. The last match on Centre Court finished before 7pm. Bearing in mind Centre Court has the roof and lights, we could have played until 11pm.

“We were kept for two and a half hours in the dark without knowing what they were going to do. The referee’s office was completely indecisive. Finally when the other match was over we thought we could play, but then they said ‘no, it’s going to take too long to get the crowd in’. It was frustrating.

“I just did not see any logic in not playing on Centre Court. If the Court 1 ticket holders cannot go to Centre Court, the second session Centre Court ticket holders could have gone. They could have just made the announcement, moved them in and we could have played."

Djokovic, who is attempting to win Wimbledon for the fourth time, dispatched of Mannarino in straight sets but his victory was far from routine. He was given headache tablets in the first set and received a medical timeout for a sore shoulder in the third, and spent much of the match unhappily remonstrating with the umpire over the state of the surface on Centre Court.

A number of players have drawn attention to the poor condition of the courts this year, including Andy Murray, and Djokovic yesterday claimed: “The courts have not been great here this year.

Djokovic was less than impressed with the state of the court (Getty)

“I am not the only one to have been complaining about the condition of the courts,” he later added. “The fact is that the court is not in a great condition. At the end of the match the chair umpire asked me about a hole, because midway through the match I mentioned there was a hole. He wanted me to show him so I showed him, and his reaction was not that great.

“Grass is probably the most demanding and complex surface for maintenance as the more you play on it, the worse it gets. But I have no doubt the groundsmen and everybody else is doing their best to have the court in the best playable condition at this moment. It is what it is.”

Despite his many troubles, Djokovic has booked his spot in the quarter-finals of The Championships, and will now play Tomas Berdych. The experienced Czech player memorably beat Djokovic on his run to the 2010 final, and Djokovic acknowledged he will have to be at his best if he is to beat him and move into the semi-finals, where either Roger Federer or Milos Raonic await.

“He is an established top-10 player with a big serve, a big forehand and a very flat game, which is obviously pretty good for this surface where the ball bounces quite low,” Djokovic added. “And he is someone with experience, who understands the ocassion of playing in big matches, at big tournaments.

“So it is important that I start off well. I’ve played him many times and I know what I need to do. Now I just need to execute that.”