Frenchman Jeremy Chardy launched a furious attack on chair umpire Miriam Bley during his second-round match with Britain’s Dan Evans, accusing her of lying and making “the biggest mistake of the Australian Open”.
The inciting incident came at a crucial moment of the match, with former quarter-finalist Chardy defending break point at 3-3 in the opening set.
As Chardy hit a forehand during a rally, one of the balls he was storing in his pocket fell out; he did not stop moving, nor look at the ball.
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Evans returned the shot and Chardy then hit it into the net to lose the point – but immediately after the ball found the net, the umpire called out “let”, which would mean to play the point again.
Yet the point was awarded to Evans and after a lengthy discussion with the players, umpire Bley went against her own let call and gave Evans the point, and thus the break.
“Strictly speaking, at the moment the ball comes out of the pocket, the point should be suspended,” one of the commentators explained.
“The player should call for the referee, because this is a ruling on the law, not what happened … when it’s a question of law, the referee adjudicates.
“Technically Jeremy is correct.
“The umpire initially made the right decision – I don’t know how she distanced herself from that.”
His co-commentator added: “A replay of the incident would’ve solved that in 30 seconds.”
Yet the incident was not replayed inside the arena and even after a supervisor was called, Chardy was unable to get the point replayed, leaving him furious.
“I’ve played for 20 years, have never had one umpire bad like you, who don’t see a ball. I hit the shot straight after (it dropped out),” he declared.
“You don’t even see. Are you looking (at) the birds? Are you looking (at) someone in the crowd?
“The biggest mistake of Australian Open.”
He maintained the rage during his discussion with the supervisor, accusing the umpire of lying.
“I completely lost my respect for you. She’s lying too. That’s not nice,” Chardy said.
“So we play with someone who cannot umpire?”
Evans, seeded 25th, went on to win 6-4 6-4 6-1.
Chardy was asked about the incident in his post-match press conference.
“I mean, it’s a big mistake from the umpire. I hit the forehand, and the ball dropped from my pocket. He hit the backhand, and I hit another forehand before she realised the ball fall from my pocket. I still lose a point,” he explained.
“So, yeah, I was angry because she should stop straightaway, and she says she didn’t even see the ball. I don’t know what she’s doing because she doesn’t call in or out.
“She just called the score, and if she doesn’t watch the point, I don’t know why she’s on the chair. That’s it. So I was pissed, and I was even more pissed when she didn’t tell me she made the mistake.”
Chardy conceded he “was already tired (laughing), so if I don’t win the first or second set, I know my chances will be really low”.
“I mean, it’s nothing against him (Evans). It’s the umpire to stop. He could say something, but it’s not his job to stop the point. We already tried to play the point. So the umpire has only one thing to do.”
He argued umpires should be sanctioned for mistakes in the same way players receive fines.
“I mean, yeah (laughing). I mean, like, it’s what I said to her. If I miss a point, then break my racquet, I will get fined. You can do a huge mistake, and nothing will happen to you.
“So, yeah, I think this is not fair, you know, because she can do mistake, but we can do a mistake. Has to be the same for both, no? If I break my racquet because I’m pissed, why I should have a sanction and not her? For me it’s not fair.”
