Tennis icon John McEnroe has hit out at Rafael Nadal for slow play following the Spaniard’s victory over Novak Djokovic in the French Open quarter-finals.
Nadal, 35, beat his arch-rival 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 in a thrilling late-night match on Court Philippe-Chatrier which did not finish until 1:15am local time on Wednesday.
However, during the encounter, the 21-time grand-slam winner repeatedly went close to and over the shot-clock limit of 25 seconds when serving, to the annoyance of McEnroe.
McEnroe, the three-time WImbledon champion, believes Nadal, who is aiming for a 14th French Open title, was not punished enough for his slow play.
Speaking on Eurosport, he said: ‘He should be penalised.
‘If you are going to do it, do it, otherwise don’t bother. It is like humouring everyone.
‘It’s a joke! He takes a look at the clock again … one. He’s edging it, isn’t he? Shouldn’t they have it at 15 seconds on the second serve? 10? Something?
‘Or don’t bother. It’s like, you can take as much time as you want on the second serve. How long is this game? 12 minutes? Jeez.’
Nadal did later receive a warning for exceeding the time limit but it did not damage the clay master’s backing from the stands.
Throughout the match, the Parisian crowd was in strong support of Nadal and could be heard booing Djokovic when the Serbian hit out at the net in frustration.
McEnroe believes Djokovic is wrongly cast as a villain and does not receive enough respect.
‘No other player has had to deal with more adversity,’ said the American.
‘It is unfair, I’ve got to say that. This guy has turned lemons into lemonade more often than any player in the history of tennis, and if you don’t think it bothers him, you’re nuts.
‘He is so mentally tough that he can deal with this and somehow channel that anger and frustration over what he feels is a lack of respect – and I feel it is too.’
MORE : Rafael Nadal hits out at French Open after late-night finish to Novak Djokovic victory
MORE : Novak Djokovic sceptical on Rafael Nadal’s injury claims and says ‘99.9%’ of crowd were against him
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