Novak Djokovic has called for Wimbledon to introduce a fifth-set tiebreak as a key tool in solving scheduling controversies at the Grand Slam event.
The former world No 1 was angry that he was unable to play his fourth-round match as planned on Monday after Gilles Muller and Rafael Nadal fought out a five-set epic on Court One which lasted a shade under five hours.
Muller triumphed 15-13 in the final set which lasted a pulsating 95 minutes.
But the marathon meant that Djokovic and Adrian Mannarino, who were scheduled last on Court One, were forced to play their last-16 tie on Tuesday instead.
Asked whether he supported the introduction of a tiebreak fifth set, Djokovic said: “Yes. I just don’t see any reason why not.”
At the moment, only the US Open of the four Slams has a tiebreak fifth set.
Djokovic said that forcing players to battle marathon matches led to an unfair competition as the winner may have to return the following day to play.
After Muller and Nadal had finished at 8:30 pm (19:30 GMT) on Monday, there was not enough time for Djokovic to start his match.
His quarter-final opponent Tomas Berdych, meanwhile, had the best part of an extra day to prepare for their scheduled clash on Wednesday.
“Because John Isner and Nicolas Mahut made a history with an 11-hour match once. Is that a reason why we’re keeping it?,” asked Djokovic of the famous 2010 match at Wimbledon.
“It is great drama but that player has to go out tomorrow. It is for the spectator? For a player to play a five-, six-hour match, then come back the next day or within two days and perform, it’s not really what your body’s looking for, to be honest.
“If you are already getting to the six-all fifth set, you might as well just decide it in a tiebreak.”
Djokovic enjoyed a 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4 win over France’s Adrian Mannarino under the Centre Court roof on Tuesday.
But he was still fuming that his match was not shifted to the main show court on Monday evening where play had ended at around 7:45 pm (18:45 GMT).
“Obviously not having the fifth-set tiebreaker here, having in mind as well that the grass is the fastest surface, when someone holds a serve, it’s kind of tough to predict when the match is going to end,” said the three-time Wimbledon champion.
“I think it was a wrong decision not to play us last night. The Centre Court has the roof and lights, we could have played till 11:00 pm.
“We went to the referee’s office before 8:00 pm. There was security reasons. That was the only excuse. I just didn’t see any logic in not playing us on the Centre Court.”
