Novak Djokovic has been hit with a time violation in nearly every single one of his matches at the China Open this year.

While Djokovic’s performances have been very good, the amount of time he has taken between points has seen him frequently punished by umpires.

That was no different in his final match against Alex de Minaur, as Djokovic was hit with another time violation for taking too long with his first serve.

It led to a conversation between Jonathan Overend and Johanna Konta, on Sky Sports Tennis, about whether more shot clocks should be introduced into the sport.

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Overend asked Konta whether there should be a shot clock introduced between first and second serves, and she responded: “I see a point for it. We’ve brought it in for first serves specifically to manage the amount of time between the end of one point and the start of another.

“However, the argument can be made about how much time is wasted between first and second serves. I will say I think this is only linked to a handful of players.

“Everyone else is fairly prompt and if it does affect other players then it’s very specific to very arduous, very physical points. It won’t be a major issue over the course of a whole match.”

Overend, meanwhile, believes the shot clock in tennis has not had the desired effect in speeding up the sport.

“I think the shot clock has slowed down tennis rather than sped it up,” explained Overend. “More people now go all the way to the end when previously they maybe have wouldn’t. It’s tricky for some people enforcing it. Some umpires are not good at enforcing it.”

“That’s probably been one of the most frustrating things, seeing how it’s not consistently enforced,” added Konta.

Overend continued: “Sometimes the clock pauses as it counts down. You actually see it stop and the resume. What’s the point?”

Djokovic took the first set against de Minaur, before the match was forced into another stoppage.

Both Djokovic and de Minaur took a medical timeout between the first and second sets. Djokovic looked to be getting his shoulder assessed, while de Minaur went off court with a trainer. There was over six minutes between points between the first set tie-break and the second set kicking off.

Djokovic is looking to win his seventh China Open title, while de Minaur is looking to win the ATP 500 tournament for the first time in his career.