Hubert Hurkacz is known as an affable tennis player with a good sense of humor, but his fourth-round defeat at Roland Garros went against his good-natured character.
Hurkacz played his good friend Grigor Dimitrov on Sunday on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Both players were seeking to reach a maiden quarterfinal at the clay-court Grand Slam.
The match was extremely tight, but Dimitrov's finesse trumped Hurkacz's power and serving prowess. The Bulgarian saved three break points at 5-6 in the first set to win in a tie-break.
He would break Hurkacz for the first time midway through the second and consolidate to take a two-set lead. But the drama unfolded in the third set when the Pole faulted chair umpire Alison Hughes, who correctly called out one of his forehands.
Hurkacz felt that it landed inside the court, but he had mistakenly chosen the wrong mark and demanded that a supervisor be summoned to the court. Dimitrov tried to clear up the situation as Hurkacz yelled towards his team box, "So bad," in a moment of pure frustration.
At 6-5 up in the third set, Hurkacz, who was sitting at the changeover, proceeded to ask Dimitrov if they would agree to substitute the chair umpire, saying, "G? You wanna make a change? Or you wanna continue with the lady here?"
At first, the 10th seed could not comprehend Hurkacz's message, retorting, "Wanna continue with what?" to which the big-serving World No. 8 said, "I mean if you wanna continue with the lady here or you’re fine or you wanna change. That’s what I’m saying, up to you."
Hurkacz's efforts proved futile, as Dimitrov eventually won the match in straight sets and reached his first quarterfinal at the French Open, where he will play second seed Jannik Sinner.
The Pole's resentments towards umpire Hughes, who has extensive experience on tour, did little to harness his reputation and has received mixed reactions from tennis fans.
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