Alexander Zverev was slapped with a code violation during his third-round match at the Madrid Open. Automatic line calling is in use at the Masters 1000 event, meaning umpires can no longer come to the court and manually look at a mark on the clay to make any rulings.
But Zverev wasn’t happy when he thought his opponent, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, had hit the ball wide and marched over to the umpire’s chair, begging him to come on court and have a look. When chair official Mohamed Lahyani refused, Zverev whipped out his phone to take a photo of the mark and was hit with a warning.
After winning the first set, Davidovich Fokina was serving to stay in the second at 4-5. He got off to a good start, just landing a forehand on the line, but Zverev immediately thought the ball was out.
The automatic hawkeye system confirmed the ball had landed on the line and was therefore in but the German refused to agree. He immediately approached Lahyani and asked him to come onto the court and look at the mark, even if he didn’t overrule the call.
“Look at this mark. Please just come down, look at it. Don’t overrule it, please. Just come down, please. Just for me,” he pleaded.
“I’m not allowed,” the umpire replied, explaining that umpires could no longer come down to check marks since the introduction of the automated system. But Zverev continued asking.
“We are not allowed. Alexander, the system gave a decision. It’s the same for both of you. You have to accept it,” Lahyani said.
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