Social
After chair umpire Alison Hughes correctly ruled one of his forehands out, the Pole attempted to rally opponent Grigor Dimitrov in requesting a mid-match substitution.
ByStephanie Livaudais
Published Jun 03, 2024
© AFP or licensors
At a Roland Garros tournament that’s been defined by surreal scenes, add another unprecedented moment: No. 8 seed Hubert Hurkacz interrupted his fourth-round match on Sunday to ask his opponent whether they should swap out the chair umpire after a dramatic on-court meltdown.
Let’s rewind: Hurkacz up was up against No. 10 seed Grigor Dimitrov, with the good friends and fierce rivals facing off on Court Suzanne Lenglen for the opportunity to face world No. 2 Jannik Sinner in what would be both players’ first quarterfinal in Paris.
Hurkacz found himself down two sets and struggling to hang in the contest with the 33-year-old, when one innocuous line call in the third set completely derailed him on his way to a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3) defeat.
Read More: Grigor Dimitrov completes career set of Grand Slam quarterfinals at Roland Garros
At Dimitrov’s request, chair umpire Alison Hughes inspected the mark on one of Pole’s forehands at 5-4, with the veteran British official ruling it out.
Hurkacz, looking at a completely different mark, was outraged in response, demanding for her to “call the supervisor” even as Dimitrov reassured him it was correct. “So BAD!” the No. 10 seed later shouted in the direction of his team.
Despite seeming to move on quickly from it and blasting his way to 6-5, Hurkacz decided to revisit the issue during the changeover.
— Loli (@LoliLondon) June 2, 2024I have gone back to this to see what exactly happened in the
Hurkacz vs Dimitrov match on #Eurosport @ #rolandgarros
The whole conversation is weird & highly disrespectful towards Alison Hughes who is one of the most experienced tennis umpires
I never EVER expected this… pic.twitter.com/msc1vzn5HR
“G, do you want to make a change?” Hurkacz asked, after gesturing toward his team that he wanted a substitution of Hughes, a Gold Badge umpire with over 30 years of experience and more than 20 Grand Slam finals in her resume.
Hurkacz, who reached one Grand Slam semifinal back in 2021, attempted to rally a confused Dimitrov to his cause. “Do you want to continue with the lady here? Are you fine, or do you want to change? To change the lady, the chair umpire,” he added again, as Dimitrov was still perplexed at the suggestion.
The Bulgarian shrugged and appeared to leave things up to Hurkacz, but then he walked over to his opponent’s chair to hash things out. After a bit of back and forth, Hurkacz finally seemed appeased as the pair high-fived it out and play continued.
WATCH: Grigor Dimitrov wins dramatic clash with Hubert Hurkacz | Roland Garros 4R
Dimitrov eventually defeated his good friend to reach the quarterfinal, his first at Roland Garros to finally complete his Grand Slam set. Afterward, Hurkacz was back to his usual laidback self as he broke down the unusual scene in matter-of-fact style.
Q. Late in the match, after that call along the tramlines, you asked him whether he'd agree to switch chair umpires. What was your thinking on that? Have you ever asked for that?
HUBERT HURKACZ: 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…
It's clay court, so it's sometimes difficult when the balls are really close from time to time. 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.
Yeah, we just compete as players and try to do our best.
Advertising
After Dimitrov and Hurkacz talked it out, the good friends high-fived and play continued.
© AFP or licensors
The match was just the last moment of drama between the good friends, who have faced off in several close battles despite Dimitrov now leading their head-to-head 6-0. In fact, the whole incident was reminiscent of the Pole's meltdown during their third-set tiebreaker at this year’s Miami Open, which saw the chair umpire correctly call a net touch and a disbelieving Hurkacz refuse to accept the ruling. Dimitrov won that match too, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
With a bit of time to process, Hurkacz was in better spirits afterward at Roland Garros as he once again gave all credit to Dimitrov in his post-match press conference.
“Grigor is always such a great competitor, and it's fun to battle against him. I just didn't manage yet to win one of those battles,” Hurkacz said. “Really close first set and had some opportunities that didn't convert. That definitely made some difference at the end.”
