Australian Open: 'F****** ridiculous' - Alison Riske-Amritraj hits out at ‘poor sportsmanship and cheating’
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
ByEurosport
Updated 21/01/2023 at 08:00 GMT
Alison Riske-Amritraj and her doubles partner Linda Fruhvirtova were left angry by an umpire's call in their doubles match on Friday. Riske-Amritraj and Fruhvirtova were wrongly docked a point because the American was deemed to have spoken mid-point to apologise to her opponent for striking the ball into her body. Riske-Amritraj has now made her feelings known on social media.
'Is he sleeping!?' - Riske-Amritraj furious at controversial umpire decision
Alison Riske-Amritraj has hit out at what she called "poor sportsmanship and cheating" in tennis after a dramatic incident in her doubles match on Saturday.
Amritraj struck the ball into the body of her opponent before quickly apologising. As a result, match chair umpire Nico Helwerth awarded the point to Alexandra Panova and Natela Dzalamidze.
“Ladies and gentlemen, due to the hindrance Ms Riske-Amritraj has created, the point goes to Dzalamidze/Panova,” said Helwerth.
The American and her partner Linda Fruhvitova were furious with his decision because, although talking in the middle of points is not allowed, that followed the ball striking the opponent so the point should have ended at that moment. As such, the ruling regarding the "hindrance" of talking was not valid.
"That's the rule," he added. "She said 'sorry' while the ball is in play. I know she doesn't do it on purpose, but that's not the point."
Fruhvitova and Riske-Amritaj argued about the timeline of when she apologised after the ball hit her opponent's body and whether it was during or after the point.
Riske-Amritraj requested for the match supervisor to come on before she then berated the official.
"What the hell is he doing up there then? That's f****** ridiculous," said Riske-Amritraj.
"No, no, that's ridiculous. Is he sleeping? Dude. I wouldn't say sorry [before the point is complete].
"It hit her so I said sorry. So it's my point."
The supervisor responded: "He's seen it differently and it's the umpire's job to see it."
Riske-Amritaj then sarcastically replied: "That makes no sense. Dude. Oh, the way you see it? The way you see it? I'm sure you see it that way.
"That's ridiculous. That's absolutely ridiculous. Pay attention. Dude, that's tennis 101."
On Saturday, Riske-Amritraj revealed on social media that the umpire had apologised to her, but maintained her belief that her opponent was in the wrong.
“She [her opponent] should have called it on herself and the umpire apologised for his incorrect ruling after, which I accepted,” Riske-Amritraj said.
“Poor sportsmanship and cheating happens all the time, especially at the junior level. Parents/players spend too much time, money and mental energy for that experience.
“As you can tell, I am extremely passionate about helping tennis’ future here. If you’re working on a compelling piece of line calling or VAR tech and need help funding/scaling, please DM me.”
Riske-Amritraj and Fruhvitova lost the second set but fought back to win the match 7-6 4-6 5-7.
- - -
Stream the 2023 Australian Open live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.co.uk.
Scan me
Share this article
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2209.png)
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2240.png)
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2239.png)
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2204.png)
Advertisement
Advertisement