Novak Djokovic is looking to win his 25th Grand Slam title at the French Open this year.
Djokovic made Grand Slam history after reaching his 16th consecutive quarter-final at the French Open.
In his fourth round match, the Serbian beat Cameron Norrie, who has pinpointed Djokovic’s big improvement after losing to him.
Despite things appearing to be running smoothly for Djokovic, he has been caught up in a controversy from another quarter-final match in Paris.
Paul McNamee says the treatment of Novak Djokovic was ‘so unfair’
That quarter-final involved Lorenzo Musetti and Frances Tiafoe, with the former progressing to continue his impressive clay court season.
However, the main talking point from that quarter-final was a controversial one, with some calling for Musetti to be disqualified after he inadvertently hit the line judge after kicking the ball in frustration.
This topic of discussion has brought back conversations about previous incidents where players were disqualified, including Djokovic in his match against Pablo Carreno-Busta at the 2020 US Open.
On that occasion, Djokovic appeared to unintentionally hit the ball back after a point, but it struck the neck region of the line umpire who fell to the ground in discomfort.
Djokovic was defaulted following this action, and now former world number one doubles player Paul McNamee has jumped to the defence of the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
While McNamee does not believe that Musetti should have been disqualified, he pointed out the inconsistencies in the ruling.
The five-time Grand Slam doubles champion wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “So unfair the differing treatment to Djokovic at the US Open, [Miyu] Kato at the French Open, and Musetti yesterday.
“None crossed the line to egregious behaviour (outstandingly bad or shocking) and none should have been defaulted…the Italian is the lucky one! Officials, please explain.”
The Italian’s opponent Tiafoe also spoke about the inconsistencies in the ruling, and former world number one Andy Roddick believes a rule should be changed after what happened with Musetti.
What did Novak Djokovic say after he was disqualified from the 2020 US Open?
There was a huge reaction across the sporting world to Djokovic’s disqualification at the 2020 US Open, especially as the top seed.
Shortly after the incident took place, Djokovic released a lengthy social media statement to apologise for what happened.
“This whole situation has left me really sad and empty,” Djokovic wrote at the time. “I checked on the lines person and the tournament told me that thank God she is feeling ok. I‘m extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong. I’m not disclosing her name to respect her privacy.
“As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being.
“I apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behaviour. I’m very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I’m so sorry.”
Djokovic will be hoping to avoid any topic of conversation in his French Open quarter-final, where he will take on world number three Alexander Zverev.
This will be a 14th career meeting between Djokovic and Zverev, with the former leading the head-to-head on eight victories.
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