Irish umpire Fergus Murphy forced to make unusual request to Wimbledon fans
Champagne cork pops at an unexpected moment on Court 18 at Wimbledon
Irish tennis umpire Fergus Murphy at Wimbledon.
Champagne and tennis at Wimbledon go hand-in-hand, but Irish umpire Fergus Murphy needed to remind fans that they need to be cautious over popping their bottles.
Britain’s Harriet Dar beat Zhuoxuan Bai of China 6-4, 6-0 in her first round match at Wimbledon on Monday, but her match was temporarily halted for a very unusual reason.
Umpire Murphy asked one of the ball kids to remove a cork from the court, after it fired in an unexpected fashion mid-way through a point.
The always forthright Murphy then made a plea to the spectators to be more respectful to the players during points.
"Ladies and gentlemen, maybe we should open the bottles on the changeovers,” said Murphy, as he urged spectators to time their champagne opening with a little more caution.
It remains to be seen whether fans who allowed their partying to explode with a little too much enthusiasm were in any mood to listen to that advice.
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