Novak Djokovic was booed by the Monte Carlo Masters crowd as he argued a ball mark with the chair umpire during his third-round match. The top seed was facing Lorenzo Musetti in front of what appeared to be a heavy Italian crowd. The fans jeered Djokovic as he unsuccessfully debated a call with Aurelie Tourte, and he later received a racket abuse warning.
Djokovic and Musetti found themselves in a scrap in the second set of their Monte Carlo Masters match, with almost every game going against the server. The Italian was serving at 3-4 when the world No 1 thought one of his opponent’s balls was out, as the umpire came down to check.
But the call went the way of Musetti as Djokovic attempted to argue his case, with Tourte admitting that both she and the linesman had been unable to identify the ball mark that the Serb was talking about. “Where? Where?” the 35-year-old asked the official.
“For me it’s just there, that’s the only mark. You have the mark?” Tourte responded as Djokovic continued to point to the indent that he believed came from the ball. Both the Serb and the umpire were barely audible over the crowd as the fans jeered and booed upon seeing the pair embroiled in a debate.
Musetti went on to hold serve for the first time in the second set, levelling things at 4-4. And after the disagreement, Djokovic was broken to allow the 21-year-old to serve for the set.
The top seed kept himself alive with yet another break before Musetti took control again, breaking the Serb to lead 6-5 with another shot and serving to force a decider. Djokovic reacted as he was broken once again, stomping on his racket as he retreated to his bench at the changeover and bending it in half.
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