SPORTING Novak Djokovic refused to play on until the roof was shut properly – after French Open rival Daniel Elahi Galan slipped badly in heavy rain on the only wet half of the court.
World No1 and mop seed Djokovic condemned the farcical conditions and jokingly took to drying the court himself – before sweeping away the Colombian too, 6-0 6-3 6-2.
British tennis legend Tim Henman was among those who backed the Serb after umpires initially failed to halt the unfair proceedings, where Djokovic alone was playing on a dry side of the net.
The Roland Garros roof was closing agonisingly slowly, with Galan the unlucky player competing in risky conditions.
Henman told Eurosport: “It shouldn’t take Djokovic to have to say to the umpire when it’s so slippery, and that can be very dangerous.
“I think they definitely stopped it too late. It wasn’t a great look for tennis or the tournament.
“It’s interesting with the Chatrier roof, it’s coming just from one end so quite quickly one end is covered but the other isn’t.
“This one has to go all the way over from one end to the other.”
Djokovic took the resulting delay in fine spirits, entertaining the crowd as he appeared to scoop water off the court with his racket.
And after also brushing aside Galan following the resumption, Djokovic said of the controversy: “I tried (to sweep the court) but I am not as good as the rest of the team! They do a great job.
“It was beautiful but I felt a bit frustrated, I felt I played OK. Played some fine shots, played OK at the baseline.”
