Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has been bundled out of Wimbledon in dramatic scenes after copping a point penalty on match point against Czech Jiri Vesely.
Davidovich Fokina was locked in a fifth-set match tiebreak with Vesely during their second-round match when the world No.37 made a disastrous error.
After hitting a forehand into the net that gave Vesely a 9-7 lead in the first-to-10 tiebreaker – a new rule for the tournament this year – Davidovich Fokina angrily smashed a ball out of the stadium after it was thrown to him by a ball kid.
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Chair umpire Carlos Ramos subsequently handed Davidovich Fokina a code violation for ball abuse. But as the offence was his second violation following an earlier one for an audible obscenity, the 23-year-old also received a point penalty.
The point penalty extended Vesely’s lead to 10-7, gifting him the win with a final score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (10-7).
https://twitter.com/DanWolken/status/1542225396825047042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
According to reports, Davidovich Fokina believed he would not be punished for smashing the ball because it constituted a different offence from his earlier violation.
After nearly four hours on court, Davidovich Fokina appeared crushed, remaining in his court-side chair long after his opponent had left.
“I don’t agree with it. That’s crazy … what a lousy way to end it,” tennis legend John McEnroe told ESPN.
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Journalist Timothy Burke tweeted, “Match point is an ill advised time to commit a point penalty”. It was also an imprudent time for a to spider crawl across the camera, blocking the wide shot of the incident.