Reilly Opelka was riled up by a contentious call during his clash with Cameron Norrie.
Reilly Opelka was slapped with a code violation after cursing out a hecklerĀ (Image: Tennis TV)
Reilly Opelka refused to shake the chair umpireās hand after a contentious end to his match againstĀ Cameron Norrie.
The American cursed out a heckler and shouted āget out of hereā before receiving a point penalty while serving for the match.
Opelka got the job done, winning 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 and publicly called out the umpire, claiming he needed to be removed from the circuit and put on the sidelines.
British No. 2 Norrie suffered a close defeat at the Dallas Open on Thursday after being two points away from winning in the second-set tiebreak. Opelka stormed back to book his spot in the quarter-final.
But the match was overshadowed by a dramatic incident in the last game. A nearby spectator had heckled Opelka, and he grew tired of the disruption while serving for the match at 5-4 30-30.
The American wildcard tossed the ball to serve but had to catch it because of another interruption. He turned to face the heckler, confronting them. āYou doing it on f***ing purpose or what?ā Opelka asked before telling them to get out.
Chair umpire Greg Allensworth immediately slapped Opelka with a code violation for audible obscenity, resulting in a point penalty. It gave Norrie a break point at a crucial moment.
Reilly Opelka refused to shake Greg Allensworth’s hand at the end of the matchĀ (Image: Tennis TV)
The rest of the crowd was shocked by the decision, having seen how disruptive the heckler was. The world No. 145 stormed to the chair to plead his case, explaining why he had to confront the spectator.
The supervisor was eventually called to the court, but Allensworthās decision was not overturned. Opelka saved the break point and got out alive, booking his spot in the last four.
Afterwards, the wildcard refused to shake hands with the umpire and slammed his refereeing. ā[The heckler] kept coughing and was hiding behind a pole. Iām like, āDude, I see youā. The guy got kicked out and I got penalised. It makes no sense,ā Opelka said.
ā[The umpire] got emotional, like we were arguing. He got very intense and frantic, couldnāt give me an answer. He didnāt tell that guy to shut up. He was doing it for like three points.
āHe didnāt do a good job, so I had to tell him to get out of here. The guy was being quite rude.ā
Explaining why he felt forced to stand up for himself, the 27-year-old added: āIf you want to come here to be an a**hole, then Iām going to be one back. It shouldnāt be one-sided traffic
āIf you want to be disrespectful to me, I canāt just be a punching bag. And if the ref isnāt doing his job and then he penalizes me, itās not a good look. Almost changed the outcome of the match.
āHe gets no penalty. If I lose that point, I lose that match, thatās a difference in my paycheck. He gets no repercussions. That was bush league.
āThe guy shouldnāt have a job or should be sidelined for about four weeks and you learn a thing or two. You canāt make those calls in ATP 500s. Youāve got to understand the situation. You canāt always play by the rulebook. Itās common sense.ā
Opelka will now face No. 3 seed Tommy Paul in an all-American quarter-final match.
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