US Open star in big row with umpire and declares ‘I don’t want to play anymore’ | Tennis | Sport

Gael Monfils threatened to walk off court during a fiery argument with the umpire during his US Open second-round defeat against Casper Ruud.

Monfils had progressed into round two after a convincing round one win over Diego Schwartzman, but it would be as far as the Frenchman went at this year’s US Open, with Ruud taking the tie 3-1 in sets.

However, it wasn’t before Monfils had been involved in a spat with the umpire.

It came after the Frenchman slipped to two sets down against Ruud, with Monfils returning to his bench to re-focus himself.

Unhappy with his current set-up, Monfils proceeded to change his shirt, the bandages on his fingers and his wristbands – at least that’s what he thought.

By the time Monfils had stood up to return to the court, the 37-year-old had realised he had forgotten to put his wristbands on and quickly returned to get them.

It was an honest mistake, but not one the umpire was willing to look past, with the man in the middle handing the veteran tennis star a time violation.

It’s safe to say Monfils didn’t see eye-to-eye with the decision, as he immediately protested it with the chair umpire.

Walking up to the official, Monfils commented: “This one is unnecessary.

“Why would you give me a time violation? For which reason? It is not necessary.”

His plea continued: “I took my time. Can you [the supervisor] come on the court because I don’t understand?

“I changed my shirt, I changed my bandage… then I go and you give me a time violation for this?

“I don’t want to play under these conditions!”

By this point, Monfils really was raging, with the supervisor now subject to his protests.

He added: “I change my shirt, I change my bandage, I forgot to put my wristband on… it’s for the fact I’m always correct, I’ve never had this and then you tell me this.”

In a way, the incident would serve to benefit Monfils’ performance, with the world No.45 taking the third set.

However, the adrenaline would soon wear off, with Ruud fighting back to finish the match with a fourth-set win.

The Norwegian will now face Juncheng Shang in the third round on Friday afternoon.

Elsewhere in New York, Novak Djokovic made no mistake in his second-round match-up, progressing beyond countryman Laslo Djere 2-0 in sets.