WIMBLEDON star Alejandro Davidovich Fokina branded an umpire as the “worst I’ve seen” and called for their supervisor after being given a code violation at Eastbourne.
Davidovich Fokina had just gone 5-4 down in the second set against Jakub Mensik when he smashed his racquet on the floor.
The umpire subsequently handed the 26-year-old a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.
That, predictably, did not improve his mood.
And Davidovich Fokina then lost his temper towards the umpire and refused to accept the decision.
During the change of ends, the Spaniard aggressively protested against the decision.
He argued his racquet had been thrown down outside the baseline, saying: “Call the supervisor, I don’t accept that warning.”
After sitting down, he then yelled: “You’re the worst umpire I have seen.
“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.”
ATP supervisor Jerry Armstrong was called out in an attempt to resolve the situation and informed Davidovich Fokina that throwing a racquet on a grass court was not allowed.
After cooling off, the world No28 regained his composure to win three games in a row and advance in a straight sets 6-4 7-5 against third seed Mensik.
He is now due to play American Taylor Fritz in the semi-final on the south coast ahead of Sunday’s final.
Davidovich Fokina has been ranked as the No26 seed for Wimbledon, which begins next Monday.
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