Iga Swiatek marched past the umpire and declared: “That’s not fair” after he refused to check a mark in the clay. The four-time French Open champion took on world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a highly-anticipated semi-final match and led by a break in the second set after losing the opener in a tiebreak.
While returning one of Sabalenka’s serves, Swiatek sent her return out then asked chair official Kader Nouni to come to the court and check whether the top seed’s serve even caught the line. But he refused for two reasons, and the 24-year-old wasn’t pleased.
While most ATP and WTA Tour events and the three other Majors have adopted electronic line calling, the French Open stuck with tradition and line judges are in use at this year’s tournament.
It means that, when a player believes the wrong call was made, the umpires must come down onto the court and manually look at the mark left behind by the balls. And that’s exactly what Swiatek wanted Nouni to do.
The world No. 5 had already hit her return when she asked the umpire to check whether Sabalenka’s serve had even caught the lines, pointing out a mark that showed the ball was out.
But Nouni refused, explaining that she had picked out the wrong mark, and that she took too long to make the request.
“Swiatek thinks she has a mark but I think the umpire is saying it’s a different mark. Interesting. He’s saying, Nope, I’m not coming down, You took too long’,” Naomi Cavaday said on TNT Sports commentary.
Swiatek continued to point out the mark then walked closer to the umpire’s chair to argue her case, but he wasn’t having it, and offered to point out the correct mark once the game was over.
“It’s not this one. Iga I’m not coming down. You need to go. I told you, we’re playing and then we go [look at it],” Nouni told her.
The four-time former champion eventually gave in and continued the game, and Sabalenka secured an easy hold to trail 3-4 with the break. Cavaday added: “I think different umpires react differently in these situations.
“You do feel like on the clay, particularly, players get a lot more time. He’s having none of it there. Saying, ‘You waited to see your return went out and then you said okay, come and check the mark’ but I feel like players do that all the time on clay.”
Swiatek still wasn’t happy, however. As she returned to her bench for the changeover, she walked past the chair official and said: “That’s not fair.”
After a break, Cavaday told viewers: “Iga Swiatek made her feelings perfectly clear to the umpire. She just said, ‘That’s just not fair. You should’ve come down and checked the mark’.”
The world No. 5 didn’t let it affect her game. She took the second set 6-4 to force a decider, though she went an early break down.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk