Swiden’s Mikael Ymer is facing the prospect of a significant fine after he was defaulted from his second round match at the Lyon Open for smashing a hole in the umpire’s chair with his racket.
The world No.53 was irritated by a decision made by umpire Rogerio Santos during his clash with France’s Arthur Fils. Both players were involved in a tightly contested opening set which saw Ymer recover from a break down to level at 3-3. However, things took a turn for the worst during the business end of the opening set.
Tied at 5-5, 30-30, Fils hit a ball which landed near the line and was called in by officials. Ymer returned the ball out and then challenged the ball marking on the court. Asking Santos to check the mark which he refused to do. The refusal was because the 24-year-old waited to see where his shot landed before asking for a check. Prompting a livid Ymer to accuse the umpire of having double stands based on what he experienced in his previous match against Richard Gasquet.
“Yesterday I had served against Gasquet, he walked over to the other side and then he was still allowed to ask for the mark to be checked,” Ymer said to Santos. “I hit this ball and you’re telling me you’re not going to come down to check the mark. Show me the mark. So whenever a mark is over there, you’re going to say I’m not going to go down and check it. I’ve never witnessed that the ref says I’m not going to go down and check the mark.”
Ymer also called for a supervisor but he failed to win the argument. His mood then deteriorated further after Fils went on to break in that game for a 6-5 lead. Resulting in Ymer smashing his racket into the side of the umpire’s chair out of anger which lead to him getting disqualified from the match.
The fiery Swede is now set to face a hefty fine that will go into the thousands of dollars. Last year Alexander Zverev was kicked out of the Mexican Open for attacking the umpire’s chair, as well as swearing at the official. He was later fined $40,000 and lost all the points he earned at the tournament.
Reacting to the aftermatch of Ymer’s match, Fils has defended the character of his peer who he describes as a ‘great guy.’
“Don’t blame Ymer, he’s my friend off the court, he’s a great guy,” Tennis Actu quoted Fils as saying during his press conference.
“He will come back next year and you will support him, cracks happen.”
Fils has now reached the quarter-finals in three out of five ATP Tour events he has played so far in his career and has a win-loss record of 8-1 against players outside the top 20 on the Tour this season. He will next play top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Meanwhile, Ymer is yet to publicly comment on the incident.
