'Thinking I'm Trying To Cheat': Murray Furious After Umpire's Mistake

Andy Murray made sure to make his thoughts heard after the first-round incident at the 2023 Italian Open in Rome.

After a title run in Aix-en-Provence at an ATP Challenger event, Murray entered the 2023 Italian Open with high hopes. However, his first-round opponent proved to be a very challenging obstacle, as the Brit had to take on home-crowd favorite Fabio Fognini.

Although it was already quite difficult for Murray because of playing an Italian in Rome with a full stadium behind his opponent, one moment in the first set made it even harder as the umpire of the match, Mohamed Lahyani, made a wrong call after Fognini's lob.

Even during the match, Murray was 100% sure that the ball was out, as he kept repeating that to the umpire. When Lahyani came to check the mark initially, he said: "The linesman called it good, there's a little bit here, it's just touching there," pointing to a spot on the line which was touched by the ball in his opinion.

Murray couldn't believe what the umpire said as he was sure that the ball would be called out, saying: "You can see the ball mark there, mate. Mohamed, look, how can you see that ball from there being in? How is it possible?"

Although the umpire had already left the place and returned to his chair, Murray wasn't happy with the decision as he approached him to say: "You know, you've got that wrong. Mohamed, you know, you've got that wrong."

And as the replay later showed, the former World No. 1 was right, as the ball was clearly out and he was essentially robbed of a point, which could have contributed to the fact that he lost the first set.

After the match, Murray noticed the video of the whole situation on social media, and he wanted to share his point of view, as it wasn't just a situation that made it tricky, but also the fact that he was playing against an Italian in Rome, and eventually losing.