French Open 2020 - 'Can't be right, it's dangerous!' - Tim Henman on Novak Djokovic roof drama

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 04/10/2020 at 08:17 GMT

Tim Henman gives his views on the farcical scenes on Court Philippe Chatrier after the roof took ages to close with Novak Djokovic in the dry and his opponent Daniel Elahi Galan in wet and dangerous conditions at the other end at the 2020 French Open.

Novak Djokovic was right to be confused and to urge play to be halted during his match with Daniel Elahi Galan at the 2020 French Open, says Tim Henman.

There was a very strange scene on Court Philippe Chatrier during the world number one's third-round clash with Galan as the rain began to pour into the stadium while the roof slowly closed.

Due to the roof closing from just one side on the court, there was a bizarre situation where Djokovic was playing on a dry surface while Galan had to contend with wet and slippery conditions and even took a tumble.

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Eurosport expert Henman was not impressed with the scenes and believed the top seed was right to push for play to be brought to an abrupt halt at Roland Garros.

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• Djokovic keeps cool to win rain-affected match against Galan

'It's not right, it's dangerous!' - Henman on Djokovic roof drama

"It shouldn't take Djokovic to have to say to the umpire when it's so slippery, and that can be very dangerous," Henman told Barbara Schett in the Eurosport studio.

"I think they definitely stopped it too late. It wasn't a great look for tennis or the tournament.

"It's interesting with the Chatrier roof, it's coming just from one end so quite quickly one end is covered but the other isn't. This one has to go all the way over from one end to the other."

There was a stage when Djokovic was playing in the dry, and his opponent was playing in the wet. You just think, that can't be right.

Eventually, play got back underway on Chatrier, but not before Djokovic decided to entertain the crowd by mopping the sodden court.

Watch Djokovic grab mop and start drying wet court

The 33-year-old continued his serene progress after the restart and clinched a straight-sets 6-0 6-3 6-2 victory in two hours and eight minutes.

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Djokovic has reached the last 16 without the loss of a single set, but he now faces a tougher challenge in the shape of Russia's Karen Khachanov.

Highlights: Djokovic cruises past Galan despite rain drama

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