Novak Djokovic comfortably beat Lorenzo Musetti to reach his eighth Miami Open quarter-final, but he was not pleased with everything that happened during the match.
Djokovic was watched by Serena Williams during his fourth round victory at the Miami Open, alongside Juan Martin del Potro.
They were not the only former Grand Slam champions watching the Serbian, with Djokovic’s coach Andy Murray also present in his box.
During his time in Miami, Djokovic has also spoken about the PTPA’s claim against the ATP Tour.
That is not the only controversial thing that Djokovic has discussed during his time at the Floridian Masters 1000 tournament.
Novak Djokovic explains why he was not happy with the umpire at the Miami Open
During the opening set of the match between at 2-2, Djokovic was given a time violation warning after the shot clock went over when he went to grab a towel.
Djokovic, who is a 24-time major winner, was noticeably unhappy with this decision at the time and debated with umpire Fergus Murphy.
In his debate with the umpire at the next change of ends, Djokovic told Murphy that he was only one second after the clock and suggested that he should have been given a bit of leeway.
However, Murphy responded by saying that the shot clock was automatic and it was not down to his judgement.
When Djokovic was asked about this incident when in the media mixed zone, he explained why he was so unhappy with Murphy.
“I understand the rules are rules, but I was not happy with the answer I got from Fergus,” said Djokovic. “I mean Fergus is a veteran in his role, in his job, he has been doing this for so many years.
“He knows this as well as anyone, so I didn’t understand why he would give me a time violation warning like the first time I actually go over there… which was a few seconds. You have got to have a little bit of understanding of the game, I was not even close to getting a warning in the first couple of games.
“It was the game where it was 2-2, we had a couple of long rallies and yes I went over to grab my towel, and yes I went over, so that was something that I thought wasn’t necessary and that’s all.”
Djokovic is not the only player to have struggled with this automatic shot clock over the past year, with Carlos Alcaraz also critical of umpires for this.
Although he was not happy with this decision at 2-2 in the first set, it did appear to spur Djokovic on as he went onto win the next seven games.
Novak Djokovic’s record in Miami Open quarter-finals
Djokovic has now advanced to the the quarter-finals of the Miami Open for the eighth time in his career.
The 37-year-old is likely to be confident going into his upcoming match against Sebastian Korda, having never lost a Miami Open quarter-final before.
Djokovic has won a record six titles at the Miami Open, with only one of his visits to the quarter-final not resulting in a trophy lift at the end of the tournament.
That came in 2009, when Djokovic was beaten in the final by his now coach Murray.
| Year | Quarter-final Result | Tournament Outcome |
| 2007 | Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal (2), 6-3 6-4 | Won the title |
| 2009 | Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10), 6-3 6-4 | Lost in the final to Andy Murray |
| 2011 | Djokovic beat Kevin Anderson, 6-4 6-2 | Won the title |
| 2012 | Djokovic beat David Ferrer (5), 6-2 7-6(1) | Won the title |
| 2014 | Djokovic beat Andy Murray (6), 7-5 6-3 | Won the title |
| 2015 | Djokovic beat David Ferrer (6), 7-5 7-5 | Won the title |
| 2016 | Djokovic beat Tomas Berdych (7), 6-3 6-3 | Won the title |
Djokovic also has the advantage in his head-to-head with Korda, having won their only match that came in the final of the Adelaide International in 2023.
However, that was a very close encounter between Djokovic and Korda, with the American actually having a championship point in that match.
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