At Wimbledon, we don’t joke with the rules. A few years ago, Roger Federer had to change his shoes in the middle of a tournament, his red soles having been banned by the organizers. We also remember the little slap on the wrist received by Jamie Delgado, then coach of Andy Murray, ordered to change his outfit in the middle of training on court 14 because his t-shirt was not white enough.
So on Friday, when Novak Djokovic, who had been spared by the draw, and Emil Ruusuvuori scraped together a few minutes on show court 2, a maintenance manager at the All England Club quickly intervened, pointing at his watch, which showed 1:05 p.m., and giving Miljan Amanovic, the Serbian player’s physio, a stern look. On the match courts, training times are limited to protect the grass and everyone must scrupulously respect their schedule. Even the seven-time winner of the London Major.
Djokovic easy against Ruusuvuori
After a final winning forehand, Djokovic greeted Ruusuvuori and wished ” good luck “ to the Finn, 88th in the world, for his fortnight, before leaving the court with his friend and manager Carlos Gomez-Herrera, then taking advantage of the empty aisles to cross the stadium on foot, towel on his shoulder, to take a quick look at the session of Iga Swiatek and Caroline Garcia and to return to the locker room with a confident step.
The world number 2 had just completed an hour of very good training. He was leading 6-2, 1-1 when it was time to fold. Still wearing a gray knee brace on his right leg, operated on June 5 following his withdrawal from his quarter-final at Roland-Garros, he did not seem to hinder his movements.
Although he showed caution on certain shots at the end of the race, the 37-year-old also managed several passing shots by taking significant support on his right leg. Under the watchful eye of Boris Bošnjakovi, former head coach of his academy in Belgrade, who already accompanied him at Roland-Garros, he served very well and displayed his extreme as well as usual demands. Several times he hit his left thigh in annoyance, after a missed backhand return or a forehand into the net. These errors were rare. Three days before the start of Wimbledon, the Serbian lights are green.
