Djokovic and a new controversy at the Australian Open: he went to the bathroom without permission in the middle of a match

The return of Novak Djokovic to the Australian Open, after last year’s controversial deportation linked to his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19, it was a celebration. The Serbian, fifth in the world rankings, was greeted with a huge ovation from the audience present at the event Rod Laver arena and ended up celebrating a great 6-3, 6-4 and 6-0 victory against the Spaniards Roberto Carballes Baena. But his debut also had its share dispute.

It is that when only five games had been played in the initial set, Nole asked for permission to go to the bathroom, the chair umpire denied him -following the rule that from 2021 marks that this is only allowed at the end of each set- , but he still ran to the locker room. And his attitude, which could have cost him a yellow card or a penalty, has aroused much criticism among tennis fans..

The video of the situation, which went viral on social media, shows how, after winning the fifth game and leading 3-2, Djokovic asks permission to go to the bathroom. “Bye, bye, bye, I have to go to the bathroom”, the former number one is heard to say, addressing the judge. And he immediately runs out of the stadium.

Even if you can’t hear what the party authority’s response was, you see another official who try to intercept the Serbian and stop it. But Djokovic, very quickly, manages to escape him.

Quickly, the referee takes his radio and announces, “I’m going to sing ‘Weather’ in 50 seconds”. And shortly after she underlines: “I’m going to sing ‘Weather’ now. He has 30 seconds to get back on the court. ” And, turning to the Spanish, he says:” Go ahead and get ready to serve. If he’s not ready in time, I’ll penalize him.”

The Serbian, who is looking for his 10th Melbourne crown and 22nd Grand Slam title, quickly reappeared in the stadium, heading to his dugout, grabbing his racket and ready to receive his rival’s serve without issue.

Curiously, he received neither a warning nor a warning of the umpire, though as far as could be appreciated, had a lack of conduct. But everything was filmed by the cameras and the criticisms of his conduct were not long in coming. Even journalists broadcasting in English were surprised.

“It’s very strange, I think he wasn’t allowed to go. After the 3-2 in the first set? I think his status weighed,” analyzed one of the commentators.

Above, to ignite the controversy even more, after that incident, Nole, who had started something hesitant, broke Carballes Baena’s serve and directed the first set. And then, he was clearly superior in the rest of the match, which ended in two hours and two minutes, before moving on to the second round, where Hugo Dellien or Enzo Couacaud awaits.