Novak Djokovic’s US Open quarter-final stopped due to opponent sweating too much and making the court slippery
The chair umpire allowed John Millman to leave the court midway through the second set to change hit outfit as his excessive sweating in the New York heat made conditions too dangerous
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Your support makes all the difference.Novak Djokovic’s US Open quarter-final victory over John Millman was momentarily held up by one of the most bizarre events seen at a Grand Slam as the Australian left midway through the second set because he was sweating too much and soaking the court surface in the process.
The 29-year-old already had the unenviable task of taking on 13-time Grand Slam champions Djokovic, but his task was compounded by the match taking place in searing temperatures and humid conditions that plagued this year’s tournament.
Millman left the court when the scores were 2-2 in the second set to change his attire, with the chair umpire allowing him to leave without punishment as it met the United States Tennis Association’s ‘Equipment Out of Adjustment’ regulation.
The USTA said afterwards that Millman spoke to the chair umpire to say that he was sweating excessively and that the court was becoming slippery as a result, which ultimately made conditions dangerous to compete in.
Before leaving, Millman also spoke to Djokovic to apologise for the delay, saying “I’m sorry, man, I’m going to have to change,” though the Serbian was more than thankful for the break as he sat in his chair shirtless in an effort to cool down.
“I was struggling. He was struggling,” Djokovic said. “He was apologising he had to go change. I said, ‘Man go ahead. I’m ok just sitting down and relaxing.’ I needed that rest. It was great.”
The USTA confirmed that the unusual events met their regulations that allowed for a break in play midway through the match. A statement read: “At two games all in the second set of the Novak Djokovic-John Millman match, Millman approached the chair umpire to note his excessive sweating and the moisture it was leaving on the court. The chair determined that the surface was dangerous enough to invoke the ‘Equipment out of Adjustment’ provision in the ITF Duties and Procedures for Officials and allowed Millman to go off court to change clothes/shoes.
“Both players agreed that he should do so. Because the chair umpire deemed the situation within the ‘Equipment out of Adjustment’ provision, Millman was not charged with an official change of attire or bathroom break.”
But that was not the only strange activity during the last-eight encounter. Moments before Millman left, Djokovic was frantically searching through his bag and was heard to be looking for “tablets”, before saying to the umpire that he needed “the tablets that my wife brought from the apartment”.
While Millman was getting changed, a bottle that contained the tablets was delivered to the 31-year-old, but the story dragged on after the match as Djokovic refused to say what the tablets were. “I can't talk about that,” he said. “They arrived in the end.”
Djokovic went on to secure a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory to progress to the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows, where he will face Kei Nishikori on Friday after the Japanese beat Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals.
But Djokovic remained critical of the conditions after the match and agreed with Roger Federer that the roof on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, which was completed in 2016, has had an impact on air ventilation to keep the players cool.
“Whether it's night or day, we just don't have air down there,” he said. “It feels like a sauna.
“I personally have never sweated as much as I have here. Incredible. I have to take at least 10 shirts for every match. After two games you're literally soaking. Roger never sweats that much, but look how he was a couple of nights ago.”
The criticism was added to by Rafael Nadal, who following his five-set victory over Dominci Thiem on Tuesday took a shot at organisers for the scheduling of matches at the US Open. The quarter-final finally reached a climax at 2.04am in the early hours of Wednesday morning, four hours and 49 minutes after it started, and the world No 1 questioned why they are being made to play so late in the night.
“It was a great match, great atmosphere and I was happy to be part of it,” Nadal said afterwards. “But not because it's three in the morning. I am not happy about this.”
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