Andy Murray fumes at umpire in on-court row as Wimbledon seed hopes dashed

10 May 2023 , 20:25

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Andy Murray was frustrated with the umpire during the Italian Open (Image: Amazon Prime Video)

Andy Murray has been knocked out of the Italian Open in the first round after a heated match against Fabio Fognini that saw the 35-year-old Scot take aim at the umpire.

Murray entered the tournament in good form after winning the Challenger Aix En Provence, his first singles tournament win since 2019. However, in his first outing since that victory, Murray was beaten 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 by Fognini.

The pair have been rivals since they were teenagers and the loss could affect Murray's chances of being seeded for Wimbledon. His victory in the Challenger event saw him climb 10 spots in the rankings to number 42 and he will need to climb another 10 places before June 26 to clinch a seeded spot.

And there were plenty of fireworks as Murray took issue with a line call in the first set, which Fognini won, prompting umpire Mohamed Lahyani to leave his chair and speak with Murray. After Lahyani agreed with the line judge's original call, Murray fumed: "You can see the ball mark mate.

"Mohamed, look. How can you see that ball from there being in? How is it possible? You're trying to make a mark now. You can see the clay is still there. You can see the ball mark."

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As Lahyani returned to his chair, Murray repeatedly yelled: "You know you've got that wrong". And while HawkEye footage later showed that Fognini's shot was out, the Italian Open does not use HawkEye for line calls.

Murray argues with umpire Mohamed Lahyani (Amazon Prime Video)

Speaking last month after he was knocked out of the Madrid Open in the first round, Murray claimed he was confident he could win a third Wimbledon title this year, stating: "Certainly the beginning of the clay season hasn't been that easy for me, but normally after a few weeks, I start to feel better and play better.

"Obviously last year, I'm not saying I came here and played unbelievable tennis straightaway, but I was playing well enough to win matches... against good players, top players. I would like to play [Roland-Garros] because I don’t know if I'll get another opportunity.

"I also have ambitions of competing for Wimbledon titles and that sort of stuff. I know sitting here today that probably doesn't sound realistic but I do believe that's a possibility. It's impossible to say what the right thing to do is but obviously it's a Grand Slam [the French Open]. I would like the opportunity to play."

Matthew Cooper