Ivo Karlovic Questions Wimbledon’s Integrity

Written by: Staff on 29th June 2012

Ivo Karlovic Questions Wimbledon’s Integrity

epa03285999 Ivo Karlovic of Croatia returns to Andy Murray of Britain during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 28 June 2012. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

Ivo Karlovic, a veteran of nine Wimbledon Championships who in his first match on Centre Court shocked defending champion Lleyton Hewitt, angrily questioned the integrity of what is widely accepted to be the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

Karlovic, a player who relies so much on his crashing serve, was foot-faulted 11 times in his second round defeat by British favorite Andy Murray. Within a few minutes of his defeat the 33 year-old Croatian was accusing the foot fault judges of adopting a home bias and maintaining he felt cheated.

“It was outrageous, outrageous,” he said. “It’s Wimbledon , Centre Court, and they do this. The whole credibility of this tournament went down for me.

“In my whole life, ever since I was eight years old, I didn’t do this many foot-faults. It was never called when it was like 30-Love or 40-Love. It was always when it was 30-All or in a tiebreak. Then I stand a little bit back but they still called. So it was outrageous. I mean, this is BS. I feel cheated.”

Murray, who won 7-5, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, responded: “That’s very tough to question the integrity of Wimbledon . It’s got a lot of history, a lot of tradition. There’s been hundreds of thousands of matches played here over the years. I’ve never heard that before.

“But I need to see the videos. If there was 11 foot faults called against him and every one was incorrect, then that’s completely wrong and unfair.”

The All England Club was officially unmoved by the comments last night and a spokesman said: “If Mr. Karlovic wishes to make a formal complaint then all evidence will be reviewed.”

Tim Henman, a former opponent of Karlovic and now a member of the Championships’ Committee of Management, said: “You can’t question the integrity of this tournament.

“In the Davis Cup, you always feel like a few calls go against you. With a foot fault, you are implying that the line judge is cheating, because you can’t judge for yourself as you’re focusing on the ball. It’s something he will regret saying in the morning.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, All England Club, Andy Murray, Ivo Karlovic, Sports, Tennis News, Wimbledon Championships