Tennis star Hubert Hurkacz asked his French Open opponent Grigor Dimitrov for help to change umpires, in bizarre circumstances during their clash at Roland Garros.
The world no.8 lost in straight sets to 33-year-old Dimitrov, with Polish star Hurkacz showing his frustration throughout the match. Hurkacz is usually even-tempered but cut an angry figure throughout the match against a friend.
The 27-year-old called for the umpire's supervisor when he was already two sets down after losing his cool with a line call in the third set. Hurkacz believed he clipped a forehand onto the line when his shot was called out and when Alison Hughes left her chair to inspect the mark, she confirmed the judgement would go against Hurkacz, correctly according to television cameras.
Hurkacz eventually screamed: “What are you doing? So bad," as Dimitrov attempted to placate his opponent. That would not be the end of it.
At the next change of end, the wounded star the motioned his hands in a manner that suggests a substitution befoore asking Dimitrov: “G, you wanna make a change? You wanna continue with the lady here?”
“Wanna continue with what?” arrived the reply. Hurkacz walked closer to his opponent, directly in front of the umpire and continued: “No I mean like, do you want to continue with the lady here or you’re fine or you want a change? That’s what I said. Up to you."
A perplexed Dimitrov once again replied in confusion: “Change what, sorry?”. “Change the lady, the chair umpire,” Hurkacz replied.
He responded saying: "I think I could have asked before. No, just asking Grigor if he would like to make the change. If not, then we're perfectly fine."
Unsurprisingly, Hurkacz was asked about the incident following the match: "No, all good. It's clay court, so it's sometimes difficult when the balls are really close to make, yeah, just it's really close from time to time," he said.
"Definitely some of the calls you wish they are different way, but it's just the way it is, and you gotta accept the things. We just compete as players and try to do our best."
The Polish ace was then asked if he had ever made such a request before. "I think I could have asked before. No, just asking Grigor if he would like to make the change. If not, then we're perfectly fine," he replied.
Dimitrov attempted to play down the incident."I think the thing is we all can say very difficult things in the heat of a moment," he said.
I'm sure whatever he said, it was not meant in a bad way. As I said, he is one of the nicest guys on tour.
"Also, the umpires, they're trying their best. It's a tricky business out there when the ball gets so close to the line. So I think they're doing their best.
"On his end we can all say difficult things in the heat of a moment, so I don't think he meant anything bad on that end. As I said, everyone tries to do their best. I think when you play match from such a caliber, when you see it from the outside, of course, it gets tough on both ends. As I said, he doesn't mean any harm or anything like that."