Tennis matches at the tour level can be quite intense, given the high stakes involved, and sometimes, players lose their cool over the umpire's decision-making.
Recently, one such incident landed World No. 5 Andrey Rublev in hot water. The Russian was disqualified from the Dubai Championships semifinal this past month after shouting at a line judge whom he adjudged to have made a wrong call on his opponent's shot.
The incident garnered a lot of attention and generated mixed reactions from fellow players and tennis pundits. Rublev, however, issued an apology for his actions and admitted to going overboard with his emotions.
The ATP's second tier can also be quite dramatic. At this week's Santiago Challenger, there was no lack of motivation despite the small prize on offer. Former World No. 78 Renzo Olivo made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Olivo, who was part of the Argentina team that won the 2016 Davis Cup, was disqualified from the Santiago Challenger for unsportsmanlike conduct. In a first-round match against Orlando Ruz, the three-time ATP Challenger champion trailed by a set and faced a break point at 1-1 in the second set.
He tried to serve and volley himself out of trouble, but on hitting his approach volley, he was penalized for touching the net. That meant that he lost the point. To his disgust, Olivo threw his racket on the ground and clasped his head in disbelief.
After protesting for a good few seconds, he picked up his racket, walked slowly towards his chair, and threw it at his seat. Then he kicked the umpire's chair, and a loud thud was hard. Having already received two code violations for his conduct, Olivo was disqualified from the tournament once the supervisor was summoned.
"He called a touch (at the net) against me, he is a criminal," Olivo is reported to have said these words after the incident (translated from Spanish). Because of his actions, he was also thrown out of the doubles tournament and on-court outbursts of this kind tend to attract a fine in four figures or even higher from the ATP.
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