Eastbourne star rages at umpire and refuses to accept punishment for throwing racket | Tennis | Sport

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina raged at the umpire and refused to accept a code violation during his win over Jakub Mensik at Eastbourne. The Spaniard came through 6-4 7-5 against the third seed to make the semi-finals, but only after losing his temper with both his racket and the official.

Davidovich Fokina, 26, had just gone 5-4 down in the second set when he hurled his racket to the floor. He was duly sanctioned for unsportsmanlike conduct, and was enraged by the decision. During the change of ends, he argued aggressively against the decision, claiming he threw down his racket outside of the actual baseline.

Arguing with the umpire, he said: “I don’t accept that warning.” ATP supervisor Jerry Armstrong was then called to the court, but that didn’t deter the world No.28 from continuing his protests.

“You’re the worst umpire I have seen,” he said. “The worst. I don’t know how you can sit there. I threw it three times and you didn’t say nothing. I did it outside, outside the baseline. Video review it. Why you put a warning? It was outside the baseline.”

Sign up here to receive all the latest tennis and Wimbledon news straight to your inbox.

Despite the apparent head loss, Davidovich Fokina regained his composure to win three games in a row and advance. He’ll now play the winner of the top seed Taylor Fritz vs Marcos Giron in the final four tomorrow.

The tournament is Davidovich Fokina’s first since reaching the second round of the French Open last month. He had been scheduled to face Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s last week but withdrew just hours before his scheduled match.

The decision raised eyebrows, given that just 48 hours beforehand, Fokina had posted photos on social media of his wedding in Spain. However, it was later confirmed that he pulled out due to illness.

Despite his controversial behaviour, he’s now just two wins from the first ATP Tour title of his career. He’s three times reached tournament finals, but never at a grasscourt event.

For all the latest tennis and Wimbledon news you can join our WhatsApp community here.