By
A war of words broke out on day four of the Australian Open when Frenchman Jeremy Chardy accused the chair umpire of lying during his second round clash with Dan Evans.
On Court 3, tensions rose when the No.25 seed had the break point on Chardy’s serve in the first set while the scores were tied at three apiece.
During the rally, a ball in Chardy’s pocket fell out, and the Frenchman lashed his ensuing forehand into the net.
LIVE UPDATES: Australian Open 2023 day four highlights
READ MORE: Kyrgios’ partner addresses controversial scooter photo
READ MORE: Heckling fans ejected as tennis star refuses to play
The chair umpire Miriam Bley did not initially see the loose ball, instead calling “let” after Chardy’s error seconds later.
What followed was a tense exchange between the players and the umpire.
Chardy was left fuming when the point was awarded to Evans despite Bley’s late let call, believing that the point should’ve instead been replayed due to the ball falling out mid-point.
Evans argued that he hadn’t been distracted by the ball and should be awarded the point.
Watch the Australian Open live and free on the Nine Network: Channel 9, 9Gem and 9NOW.
Chardy walked off in frustration despite calls from the umpire to talk to her. Bley eventually rose from her chair and spoke at length with a visibly irate Chardy.
The Frenchman didn’t take kindly to the umpire saying she hadn’t initially seen the ball fall out of his pocket, asking her whether she was “looking at the birds” instead of the match.
A tournament supervisor was called and Chardy accused the umpire of “lying” and asked for her to be fined in a 10-minute delay between points.
“I played for 20 years and I’ve never had one umpire bad like you, not one,” Chardy said to Bley.
“You don’t see a ball? I hit the shot straight after. I hit there a forehand, turn around, I go there, so it’s like five seconds and you don’t even see?
“What are you looking at? Are you looking at the birds or are you looking at someone in the crowd?”
Chardy repeatedly accused Bley of lying, scoffing, and said he had “lost my respect” for her before labelling the call “a huge mistake” on the umpire’s part.
Despite the point eventually going the way of Evans, commentators argued that Chardy was in the right, over-the-top reaction or not.
“It’s after this forehand that the ball comes out and that’s where the point should be (ended),” said John Wright.
“And the first call as you can hear is ‘let let let’ which is to play the point again, but the score has been called in favour of Daniel Evans so the supervisor has arbitrated.”
After losing in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 a bemused Chardy doubled down on his accusations.
“It is a big mistake from the umpire,” said Chardy.
“I hit the forehand and the ball dropped from my pocket, he hit the backhand, and I hit another forehand. Before she realised the ball fall from my pocket and I still lose the point.
“I was angry because she should stop straight away and she said she didn’t even see the ball.
“I don’t know what she is doing because she didn’t call in or out, she just called the score.
“If she doesn’t watch the point I don’t know why she is on the chair.
“That’s it, so I was pissed, and I was even more pissed when she didn’t admit she made a mistake.”
Chardy said it isn’t fair that players are sanctioned for smashing racquets while mistakes from umpires go unscrutinised.
“It’s like what I said to her; if I miss a point then break a racquet then I will get fined,” he said.
“You can do a huge mistake and nothing will happen to you. I think this is not fair because she can do a mistake but we can’t do a mistake. It has to be the same for both, no?
“If I break my racquet because I’m pissed, why should I have a sanction and not her? For me, it’s not fair.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Rafael Nadal’s love-hate relationship with Australian Open
