A quarter-final match at the Mexican Open ended in bizarre fashion after a player was issued a code violation on match point.
Miomir Kecmanovic defeated France’s Terence Atmane 6-3, 6-3, to become the first Serbian man to reach the last four of the tournament. It is the first time in 12 months that the 26-year-old has reached the semi-final stage of an ATP event, and he will now rise to No. 58 in the live rankings.
The talking point of Kecmanovic’s win is about how it ended. As he was preparing to serve on match point, Atmane walked over to the ball girl and grabbed his towel. The umpire then issued Atmane with a time violation, which was his second in the match. Two violations in one match results in a player losing one point, which handed Kecmanovic the victory. Under ATP rules, players are allowed up to 25 seconds between points and toweling off is not a valid reason for extending that period.
Throughout the clash, Atmane complained he was feeling unwell. According to Tennis Now, at 1-1 in the second set, he told the umpire he was ‘throwing up last night’ and was sweating heavily. Then, in the third game on that same set, he received a medical timeout and took some pills.
“I’m sweating like I’ve never sweated in my life, I’m shaking,” Atmane said. “I’m cold, I’m hot, I can’t breathe, it’s a joke.”
Prior to the point penalty, the umpire said, “he’s ready” to Kecmanovic – to which Atmane replied, “I’m not”.
Kecmanovic will face Flavio Cobolli in the next round, who is the highest-ranked player remaining in the draw. Cobolli defeated China’s Wu Yibing 7-6(4), 6-1, to reach his second Tour semi-final in as many weeks. The Italian started the season by losing three matches in a row but has gained momentum this month, winning five out of his last six matches played.
“I think when you don’t play like you want, but you still stay positive in your mindset — I think it’s [great] for me because it’s never happened in the past. So now it’s a little bit better, I’m very proud,” said Cobolli, who saved eight out of eight break points against Wu.
“I really appreciate my attitude on the court because it’s not easy to play against [Wu] and I think he deserved to win the first set. I put a lot of energy in my game and I think I played a really good second set.”
In the other section of the draw, there will be an all-American clash between Frances Tiafoe and Brandon Nakashima. Tiafoe dismissed Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, and Nakashima knocked out sixth seed Valentin Vacherot 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
