Novak Djokovic fumes at line call in tense moment during French Open semi-final with Jannik Sinner at Roland-Garros - 'What are you talking about?'

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Novak Djokovic expressed his frustrations towards the chair umpire as he contested a tight line call during his French Open semi-final against Jannik Sinner. The world No. 6 hit a backhand that he thought had clipped the line, but the umpire - and Sinner - told the Serb that he was wrong. Djokovic, meanwhile, was not happy with the call, pointing out what proved to be a different mark in the clay.

Djokovic asks umpire 'What are you talking about?' over controversial call

Video credit: TNT Sports

Novak Djokovic was furious as he contested a line call during his French Open semi-final against Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, was facing the world No. 1 in the last four at Roland-Garros, and trailed by two sets with Sinner serving at 4-5 down.

The Italian had already saved set points from Djokovic with the Serb threatening to halve the scoreboard deficit, and a Djokovic backhand was called out at a pivotal point in the game, with the scores locked at deuce.

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Had Djokovic, the three-time champion in Paris, won the point, he would have earned himself another crack at the third set.

In the TNT Sports commentary box, Naomi Cavaday and Miles Maclagan couldn’t quite get to grips with what was going on.

"So has this been called out? It wasn’t Sinner that stopped," said Cavaday.

"It’s confirmed wide," she continued, with chair umpire Damien Dumusois coming down to inspect the mark.

"Nope," Dumusois told Djokovic as he made his way back to the chair, and the Serb approached the net to voice his complaints.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

"You can see it! There’s no space there!" protested Djokovic. "What are you talking about?"

"Can I talk now?" asked the umpire. "You see the entire mark? There is a little space. The ball is out."

"The umpire is adamant there was a space," Cavaday said.

"Hawk-Eye just confirmed that, saying that it was three millimetres, which I can assure you, isn’t even as good as [the umpire’s] eyes are," Maclagan replied.

"For me, I see the space," continued Dumusois. "It’s very close, Novak, we agree! It’s not. It’s very close, but there is a space."

Sinner approached the net himself and told Djokovic that there were two marks in the clay.

Watch as Djokovic receives further treatment in semi-final with Sinner

Video credit: TNT Sports

"Actually, the one that it was did just miss," Cavaday said. "He believes Sinner, so he’s had to accept that."

The point ended up having no bearing on the set, and indeed the match, with Sinner holding serve, and the following two games resulted in a deciding tie-break, which the Italian won to clinch a straight-sets victory and seal his place in the final.

Speaking after the match, TNT Sports expert Tim Henman gave his assessment of the situation.

"It’s a difficult one on the sideline. The umpire came out of the chair and had a good look at it. Sometimes when it is that close to the line, there isn’t a great deal of clay, so it doesn’t leave the cleanest of marks," he reasoned.

"When we saw the Hawk-Eye reaction, it showed it was out. It’s certainly hard to see it on the court, but Hawk-Eye will show you the flight of the ball. It goes to show what fine margins there are. There have definitely been cases - especially on clay - where it’s very difficult to see the ball mark on the court.

"I find it much more reassuring in the commentary box and you get that Hawk-Eye view. Moving onto grass where electronic line-calling will be in play, it’s good to have it."

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