Novak Djokovic felt that a warning from the chair umpire for what was perceived as coaching from his player box during a fourth round Australian Open win over Nicolas Almagro was no laughing matter.
The normally laidback Serb expressed his displeasure with the ruling after he looked to his box after mishitting a forehand and receiving a hand signal from coach Marian Vajda. Irish chair umpire Fergus Murphy warned Djokovic for coaching, a decision that did not sit week with the 2008 champion.
“There was not any intention of me asking for advice from my coach,” said the third seed. “OK, maybe he did show me some signals of how I should hit my forehand — it was more out of frustration. I didn’t do anything, and I didn’t ask for any advice.
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“Maybe the umpire was right to give me a code violation for that, but I think it was wrong because he should have told me, he should have given me a pre-warning — not right away, it wasn’t the right time.”