One former Wimbledon quarter-finalist was involved in a tense on-court row with his opponent at the Nordea Open in Sweden. Cristian Garin, who reached the last eight of Wimbledon in 2022, even went as far as calling out rival Camilo Ugo Carabelli to “see him outside”.
The two were competing in the competition’s round-of-32, with Argentine Carabelli taking the win by a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 margin. It was a match that had been played in good spirits, but after Carabelli had secured match point, tempers began to flare.
On the way back to their chairs, both players were heard exchanging verbals, with Carabelli said to have called Garin a “bobo”, which translates to “idiot” or “fool” in Spanish. Garin, unhappy with the exchange, replied in Spanish: “Why do you call me idiot? Why are you calling me fool, what’s wrong with you?”
Garin went on to ask the umpire for intervention, but they were not for moving, given they didn’t understand what was being said. The back-and-forth continued though, with Carabelli said to have claimed “nobody likes” Garin before wishing him a pleasant journey home.
That wasn’t something Garin took well to, with things coming to a head when the 29-year-old said: “I’ll see you outside to see if you have the guts.” A bold statement from one professional to another!
It’s been a hectic few weeks for Garin, who was handed a spot at Wimbledon as one of the lucky losers last month. Recalling his agonising wait to see if he’d be involved, Garin told the ATP Tour: “On Thursday I lost in four or five hours in the last round of qualifying, five sets. I was just really sad and upset, so down. But I knew that I was seeded in qualifying so I would have a good chance to get a lucky loser spot but then when I was third down on the list, I didn’t have expectations to play.
“Two guys pulled out on Friday, but then no one did over the weekend. I couldn’t sleep last night thinking maybe I’d get in or maybe not. And today in the morning I got a call at about seven that someone was not going to play. So I came at eight in the morning. It was crazy. I quickly left the room, came here and then had a small hit and then I was on court playing.”
