Novak Djokovic was issued a code violation warning for audible obscenity during the third set of his Wimbledon match against Roman Safiullin on Centre Court. The incident occurred after the Serbian star, seeded No. 7, was broken early in the set and reacted by screaming “bulls***” and another word in Serbian.
Umpire Intervenes
Chair umpire Timo Janzen promptly announced: “Code violation, audible obscenity, warning, Mr. Djokovic,” addressing both the player and the Centre Court crowd. Djokovic accepted the warning without complaint, according to former player Tim Henman, who noted: “There was no complaint from Djokovic, so.”
BBC Commentators React
John McEnroe, commentating live for the BBC, expressed confusion over Djokovic’s outburst, believing it was entirely in his native language. “He’s working on that code... When you hear another language, it immediately goes to your native tongue. I’d love to know what he was just saying. Apparently the umpire knows,” McEnroe said.
Match Context
Djokovic had come from 2-5 down in the opening set to win it in a tiebreak, then took a two-set lead over Russian qualifier Safiullin. The code violation came after he was broken early in the third set, but Djokovic did not dispute the decision.
