Novak Djokovic clashed with a Wimbledon tournament referee after she opted to close the roof on Centre Court

Novak Djokovic clashed with Wimbledon tournament referee Denise Parnell after she opted to close the roof on Centre Court at approximately 7.40pm local time following his one-set-all position against Felix Auger-Aliassime. When matches extend into the evening, the roof can be shut on the two main showcourts to activate the lights and allow play to finish.

However, conditions remained bright enough outdoors to carry on with the roof open, and possibly even finish the third set before darkness became an issue. Djokovic attempted to argue this point with the referee, but his protests fell on deaf ears.

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The No.7 seed had claimed a gruelling 82-minute opening set against Auger-Aliassime 12-10 in a tiebreak. However, the Canadian secured the first break of the encounter in the second set, before serving it out 6-3.

At this juncture, Parnell walked onto court to notify the players and umpire that the roof would be closed with the score level, rather than risking an interruption mid-way through the third set should it become too dark. But Djokovic objected.

"Why now? Why? The other day you didn't want to close it until, like, 8.20, 8.30, and now you want to close it? You don't want to get to 8.30? It's 7.40 now. We can play a whole another set. Outdoors. We are an outdoor tournament," he explained. Parnell then referenced Jannik Sinner's fourth-round clash against Shintaro Mochizuki, where the roof had to be closed mid-way through the second set at 4-4 due to fading light.

"With Jannik, I don't care what happens. I care about our match right now," Djokovic replied. During the seven-time former champion's opening-round encounter against Wu Yibing, the roof was similarly closed when Wu drew level at one set apiece, though this occurred nearly an hour later, at approximately 8.25pm.

Turning to Parnell, Djokovic pressed on: "And you remember the first round? You didn't close it until, like, 8.20, 8.30. And now you want to close it at 7.40. Where is the consistency? You're so proud of your rules, and you're not sticking to any kind of rule. We have no idea what the rule is.

"Well, that was a very uncomfortable conversation Denise Parnell had with Novak Djokovic, tournament referee," Nick Mullins remarked in commentary. Todd Woodbridge responded: "Rightfully so. Novak is right, we've got another 40 minutes. You can play a set within 40 minutes. I am a bit perplexed when - Novak is right - when every other night, we've played to a certain point."

Tim Henman, who also sits on the board at the All England Club, said: "Looking out there now, could they carry on? They probably could. But I think from Denise Parnell's point of view, she would like to have the delay in closing the roof at a convenient time, and that is end of set. Is there a possibility of then playing this third set, getting to the latter stages, when you'd need to stop, and it being at 4-4 or 5-5? So I think it's a conservative time to shut the roof."

Both Djokovic and Auger-Aliassime headed off court while the roof was being closed, returning shortly afterwards once it had fully shut. After a brief warm-up, the pair got straight back to business as the third set got underway.