Novak Djokovic argues with Wimbledon official over roof during epic win
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Novak Djokovic won the longest quarter-final in Wimbledon history against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday, but there was some drama too.
39-year-old Djokovic defeated Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (12-10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (10-4) in an exciting match that lasted 5 hours and 15 minutes. The match needed no extra finesse, but the tennis legend added fireworks by arguing with tournament commissioner Denise Parnell about the roof.
Parnell thought the evening conditions warranted closing the roof after the second set, but Djokovic wanted to keep the roof open.
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Novak Djokovic of Serbia talks to Championship referee Denise Parnell with the roof of Center Court closed during his men’s singles quarterfinal match against Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on July 7, 2026. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Djokovic said to Parnell, “Don’t you want to go to 20.30 in the evening? It is currently 19.40. We can play a completely different set outdoors. We are an outdoor tournament.”
“You didn’t want to close until 8.30pm the other day. You want to close now.”
Parnell appeared to bring up Jannik Sinner’s match from last night, but Djokovic wouldn’t hear of it.
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Serbian Novak Djokovic reacts during the men’s singles quarterfinal match against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
“I don’t care what happens in Jannik’s matches. I’m talking about our match right now,” Djokovic said. “You remember the first round, you didn’t close until 20.20. Now you want to close at 19.40. Where is the consistency?
“You pride yourself on your rules and you don’t stick to any rules. You have no idea what a rule is.”
After Djokovic’s statement regarding the rules, an official statement was made that the roof would be closed.
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Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates his victory over Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the men’s singles quarterfinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)
Auger-Aliassime appeared to agree with Djokovic and asked: “So are we sure we’ve got it covered now?” he asked. In the middle of Djokovic’s argument with Parnell.
Although he could not take the third set away, Djokovic won the match 6-3. With his victory over Auger-Aliassime, he became the oldest man to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals in more than 50 years.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion will face defending champion Sinner on Center Court on Friday.
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