Rafael Nadal once complained about the decision to keep the roof closed during his semifinal clash against Novak Djokovic at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. His frustration was a result of the curfew disrupting their clash, leading to it being played out over two days.

Entering the grasscourt Major as the second seed, Nadal defeated the likes of Alex de Minaur, Jiri Vesely and Juan Martin del Potro to set up a blockbuster semifinal meeting with No. 12 seed Djokovic in their 52nd meeting on tour.

Their match began under the roof on Centre Court, following Kevin Anderson’s marathon win over John Isner in six hours and 36 minutes. Djokovic and the Spaniard engaged in a characteristically closely contested battle, with the Serb leading two sets to one when play was suspended due to Wimbledon’s strict 11:00 pm curfew.

Despite the sunny and clear conditions the following day, play resumed under the closed roof, much to Rafael Nadal’s consternation. Despite the Spaniard’s struggles in the indoor conditions, he forced a decider by clinching the fourth set. However, Djokovic displayed his resilience by edging past his arch-rival to claim a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(9), 3-6, 10-8 victory in five hours and 15 minutes.

Following his loss, Nadal was furious about the decision to keep the roof closed for the last two sets of his semifinal clash against Novak Djokovic, emphasizing that the grasscourt Major is supposed to be an outdoor tournament.

“It’s an outdoor tournament. OK, we start indoors. What I don’t understand is, today, we could have started outdoors. Today we continued undercover because we started undercover. I don’t think it’s right. It’s an outdoor tournament,” he said.

“If the previous part of the match started with the roof on, there was logic but I don’t understand why it had to be closed.” he added (via the Daily Mail).

The Spaniard’s team also voiced their displeasure with the decision, citing a clause in the rulebook declaring that “in good weather, the roof will only be used if it is too dark to play on without it.”

“I wanted to play in the same conditions” – Novak Djokovic advocated for closed roof in Wimbledon 2018 SF against Rafael Nadal

While Rafael Nadal was infuriated by the roof remaining closed for the conclusion of the match, Novak Djokovic revealed that he had advocated for it to remain closed to maintain the same playing conditions as the first three sets of the semifinal clash.

“The tournament organisers and referees said that the roof has to be closed because we started the match with the roof closed,” Djokovic said.

“They told us we had to play under the roof. I was for the roof because we started to play under it. I wanted to play in the same conditions,” he added.

Following his win over Nadal, Djokovic took on Kevin Anderson in a highly anticipated title clash at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. The Serb dominated the final, claiming a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) victory over Anderson to clinch his fourth title at the grasscourt Major.