What is a hindrance call in tennis?

Novak Djokovic is just one match victory away from his 24th Grand Slam title, which would set the all-time record for men or women in the Open Era and break his tie with Serena Williams at 23.

The No. 2-ranked player in the world won his Wimbledon semifinal match Friday, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4), over No. 8 Jannik Sinner to advance to Sunday’s final, when he’ll face either No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz or No. 3 Daniil Medvedev. But Djokovic’s semifinal win had a super surprising moment.

During the second set against Sinner, Djokovic returned the ball and let out a loud and extended grunt. It was apparently too much for the chair umpire, who called the 36-year-old Serbian player for hindrance.

So what is hindrance? Simply, the ATP Tour’s 2021 rulebook described it as: “A hindrance may result (1) from a corrected call by an official or (2) from an inadvertent event that occurs on-court”.

But the section also notes that a “A distraction occurring on-court may be ruled inadvertent (unintentional) or ruled deliberate.” More via the 2021 ATP Tour rulebook:

Any player who created the hindrance must be advised that the next time play is stopped by the Chair Umpire because of that player’s similar actions; it shall result in a loss of point. …

Any distraction caused by a player may be ruled deliberate and result in the loss of a point (intentional or unintentional). Deliberate is defined as the play- er meant to do what it was that caused the hindrance or distraction.

This grunt from Djokovic certainly seems unintentional, but the rule clearly states the call leads to a loss of a point regardless of intentionality.

Djokovic was called for ‘hindrance’ on this play and the point was given to Sinner 🔉 pic.twitter.com/J5QoJkDbl4

— ESPN (@espn) July 14, 2023

Here’s another example, from the 2021 ATP Tour rulebook:

Opponent Makes Noise

Case: During play, a player thinking he has hit a winner, shouts “vamos”, “come on”, “yes”, etc. as his opponent is in the act of hitting the ball.

Decision: If the Chair Umpire rules that a hindrance has occurred then, as the sound or exclamation that caused the hindrance was deliberate, the point shall be awarded.