Novak Djokovic was less than pleased with officials at the Australian Open having beaten off Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov in four sets.
The Serb dropped his first set of the tournament after becoming frustrated that the floodlights were turned on during his daytime win over Shapovalov.
Two sets and a break up, Djokovic appeared to be in total command but he apparently lost his concentration when the lights came on over the Rod Laver Arena.
From 4-1 up he lost the third set, before powering home to win the fourth in 26 minutes for a 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-0 victory. With glaring sunshine still streaming on to the court at about 5:15pm local time, the world number one requested the lights be turned out, to no avail.
“There was no sense to turn the lights on when we have another four hours of daylight,” Djokovic said afterwards. “It was completely unnecessary. The explanation I got was for TV reasons. I hope the viewers enjoyed it.”
The 14-time Grand Slam winner will play Russian 15th seed Daniil Medvedev in the last-16 and has guaranteed he’ll stay top of the rankings ahead of Rafael Nadal by reaching this stage.
Six-times a champion in Australia, Djokovic is aiming to move clear of Roy Emerson and Roger Federer in terms of all-time triumphs with another win at Melbourne Park next Sunday.
Medvedev, 22, is another of the game’s rising stars and he beat Belgian 21st seed David Goffin 6-2 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 to book his last-16 berth without dropping a single set.
Djokovic is favourite at 1.91 to win the Australian Open, with Federer 5.00 and Nadal 6.00.
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