Tennis stars have to be separated in furious on-court row… AFTER heated Davis Cup match finished
TWO tennis stars were kept apart after a simmering row during a Davis Cup rubber erupted again at the finish.
Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild was furious that French rival Arthur Fils failed to concede a crucial point after what many reckoned was a clear umpiring error.
https://twitter.com/GaelenBet/status/1885770494965682336With both players at the net, Fils drilled a fierce backhand out, with Wild appearing to sway out of the way.
Sp the South American was stunned when he was ruled to have touched the ball with his back as it passed him.
That meant his serve had been broken, leaving him staring defeat at 1-6 4-5 down.
And it meant a tense contest exploded.
Wild stopped in amazement, flinging his arms out wide in amazement, when he heard the umpire’s call.
His protests to the officials got him nowhere.
And his frustration quickly turned to Wild, who walked off and ignored pleas to tell the umpire the ball hadn’t hit his opponent.
Instead he sat down and gestured towards the official’s chair.
The Brazilian team were as furious as Wild, with one member complaining loudly to the umpire: “It’s the wrong decision! It wasn’t even close!”
Once Fils served out to clinch the rubber, the anger ramped up.
He was confronted by Brazilians, and eventually the two players were steered away from each other.
Viewers mainly seemed to side with Wild afterwards, many accusing Fils of poor sportsmanship for failing to intervene.
One fan said: “A player with integrity overrides the umpire .”Another posted: “
Deplorable umpiring. But Fils has poor character for not calling his own shot out.”
But a few observers suggested: “The ump made the call. Thiago’s issue should be with the ump”
And the pro-Fils camp included comments like this: “Respect?! Fils didn’t even celebrate his win because of the umpire mistake, went for respectful handshake. It’s Seyboth Wild who got the things heated.”
The 20-year-old winner later admitted he too thought the umpire had been WRONG.
He said: “At the end, it was a bit hot, that’s true.’
“I think he didn’t touch the ball on the point that gave me 5-4, which is a fact of play that puts him at a disadvantage.
“But that’s the way it is. I think if it had gone the other way, he wouldn’t have given me the point either.
“There’s no problem between him and me. We explained ourselves afterwards.”
France went on to win the match 3-0 with victory in Sunday’s doubles, earning a second-round tie with Croatia.