2016 FRENCH OPEN TENNIS STARTS WITH LOTS OF RAIN & DAMPNESS & NICK KYRGIOS GETTING ROUGHED UP BY UMPS

Written by: Staff on 23rd May 2016

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

2016 FRENCH OPEN TENNIS STARTS WITH LOTS OF RAIN & DAMPNESS & NICK KYRGIOS GETTING ROUGHED UP BY UMPS

epa05324790 Rain delays the matches at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 23 May 2016. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT |

French Open – 10sBalls Editors Note: Yes, We have Bob Larsons permission. So sad to see Nick behaving well and still having the suits on top of him. It was a plausible reason he gave for raising his voice. We need to check the current ATP Rulebook but we certainly think if Nick had grabbed a chair ump the way the world number one star Novak Djokovic did they would have punished him with fines for unsportsmanship and kept him out of the game for 6 months to a year! Really guys. What’s the point of picking on the kid?… Really… He has been a jerk! He was terribly rude to Stan, as well as other innocents that he threw under the bus. But he is really trying. And if the chair umps and tennis officials can’t see that then They should find new jobs. Cause if they can’t see that, they can’t see lines either – either crossed by stepping over or balls bouncing near…

Rain dampened most things at Roland Garros on Day One of the French Open but not Nick Kyrgios’ anger at receiving another code-violation warning in his growing disciplinary catalogue. And this time it certainly appeared as though the young Australian was totally innocent.

Carlos Ramos, one of the game’s foremost umpires, adjudged Kyrgios’ demand to a ball boy for a towel as contemptuous and ungentlemanly during the first round encounter with Italy’s Marco Cecchinato.

“Now I’ve really seen it all,” shouted 17th seeded Kyrgios to Ramos during the tense first set tiebreak of his 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 opening round win. “Unbelievable bias.”

Kyrgios continued to argue: “You’re giving me a code for that? The crowd is too loud for him (the ball boy) to hear me. So I go ‘towel’ louder than usual and you give me a code for unsportsmanlike? Really? What rule am I breaking for saying ‘towel’ loud?”

Nick Kyrgios of Australia in action against Marco Cecchinato of Italy during their men’s single first round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 22 May 2016. EPA/YOAN VALAT

Certainly the crowd on Roland Garros’ historic Court No.1, or Bull Ring Court, was applauding loudly for Kyrgios after he hit an impressive forehand winner. There was no way he was venting his temper or being abusive to the ball boy.

Nevertheless Ramos curtly replied: “It’s not that you said towel loudly. It’s the way that you said it.”

When questioned later about the incident, Kyrgios asked it to be compared to the recent episode during the Italian Open in Rome when Novak Djokovic summoned Brazilian umpire Carlos Bernardes from his chair during the quarterfinal with Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic demanded Bernardes checked a ball mark and then physically shoved the official out of the way. “I think we all know if that was me that did that, it would be an absolute circus,” suggested Kyrgios. “He (Djokovic) did it and nothing really happened. It speaks for itself.

“I thought it was a little bit rough on me but I can’t do anything about it now. Obviously it was just his (Ramos) personal opinion on how he thought that I went about it.”

Nevertheless Kyrgios refused to get drawn too deeply into castigating umpires and insisted they have a tough job to do, particularly in the circumstances where steady rain made conditions very difficult for both players.

“It’s not an easy job to concentrate out there, especially five-set matches. All in all, I think the umpires do a good job.”

Cecchinato, who stood and watched the entire incident with apparent bemusement, had no grouse with Kyrgios. “For me he’s very, very good guy,” said the Italian, playing in the French Open main draw for the first time. “I don’t know what he said and I don’t care. He plays very good and I like him.”

Topics: 10sballs, 2016 French Open, Nick Kyrgios, Roland Garros, Tennis News