Belgrade Open chaos ensues as players leave court before final | Tennis | Sport

Confusion reigned at the Belgrade Open final on Saturday after the players were forced off court just minutes before play was due to begin.

Former world No 10 Denis Shapovalov – now ranked 80th – was scheduled to face home favourite Hamad Medjedovic in the Serbian capital at around 3pm local time.

However, fans in the crowd and watching live on TV were left confused after Shapovalov and Medjedovic headed off court just minutes before play was due to begin.

Both players had been warming up on the indoor court for around 10 minutes before it appears they were instructed to leave the court by tournament officials.

Reports suggested that a fault with the line calling technology was behind the delay to proceedings as fans were forced to wait patiently.

But it wasn’t long before the technical error was fixed and the players were given an extra five-minute period of preparation to warm up for the final of the ATP 250 event.

The technology fault was only made more embarrassing for tournament organisers by the fact that there was tennis royalty in attendance.

Novak Djokovic was spotted by broadcast cameras in the stands as the 37-year-old enjoyed a rare leisurely visit to his home city to take in the action from the event.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner, who pulled out of the ATP Finals in Turin citing injury, didn’t seem too bothered about the inconvenience as he embraced other spectators in the VIP section. He was also seen grinning and waving to fans who cheered his name at the event.

Djokovic’s name surfaced in the semi-finals when Shapovalov joked that the former world No 1’s domination against him was the reason behind his unwanted 8-0 record against him in the head-to-head.

“I didn’t think I had so many fans in Serbia, it’s maybe because I lose to Novak every time,” Shapovalov said after beating Jiri Lehecka.

The 28-year-old won his maiden career title at the 2019 Stockholm Open but has failed to win another tour-level title since then. He has reached five finals and lost them all.

Facing Medjedovic would be no easy feat after the Serbian player knocked out Laszlo Djere and Francisco Cerenduolo on his way to the final.