John Isner’s day at Wimbledon was one full of frustration as he locked horns with the umpire during his second round match against Ruben Bemelmans.
During what was a highly animated encounter, the ninth seed went into a rage following a hawk-eye call. Leading the match by two sets to one, a tense tiebreaker saw Bemelmans launch a hawk-eye challenge following one of his shots being called out. The system concluded that the ball was actually in. Resulting in a heated exchange on court 12.
“This is ridiculous! Why do I have to accept that? Why do I have to accept that?” He shouted to umpire Mohamed Lahyani.
“It’s hawk-eye and we have to accept the call.” Lahyani replied.
“It’s not working. It’s literally not working.” Isner persisted.
Much to the annoyance of Isner, the Hawk-eye ruling remained. The mood of the American deteriorated further when his Belgian rival went on to win the tiebreaker to force the match into a decider. Then during the break Bemelmans left the court, leaving Isner to continue his rant.
“I have the right to be livid. You cannot tell me otherwise. Alright Mohamed?” He said after losing the tiebreaker. “That is absurd. That one (points to the baseline of the court) and especially that point (points to the other side).”
Persisting with his opinion, the 33-year-old then challenged the umpire about the rules of the sport.
“If he hits a ball this far out and he challenges it and it’s in, what do you do? Do you give him the point?” He asked.
Veteran umpire Lahyani, who started working for the ATP back in 1997, refused to change his view of the incident. Telling Isner directly ‘We have a system, we have to go with the system. You know that’ before issuing him with a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Isner’s second round match has been postponed due to rain. Giving him time to cool down. Going into Thursday, he trails Bemelmans 4-3 in the fifth set.
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