Published 12:59 IST, January 21st 2020
Reilly Opelka becomes latest Australian Open star to unleash abusive rant on umpire, watch
Reilly Opelka shouted at chair umpire and used abusive language after he was left incensed by the Fabio Fognini's supposed time-wasting during Australian Open.
The Australian Open 2020 has already witnessed a blowup on the first day of the Grand Slam on Monday with Canada's 13th seed Denis Shapavalov having a war of words with the chair umpire after been hit with a code violation. The trend continued on the 2nd day as when American tennis player Reilly Opelka had a foul-mouthed argument with the chair umpire during his match against 12th seed Fabio Fognini in his Round 1 match.
Australian Open 2020: Reilly Opelka's abuse language against chair umpire
Reilly Opelka shouted at the chair umpire and used abusive language after he was left incensed by Fabio Fognini's supposed time-wasting. The unseeded player was already been hit with a code violation for time-wasting but argued that Fognini didn’t get the same treatment. When Reilly Opelka felt Fognini got away with more time-wasting, he confronted umpire Carlos Bernardes. Fabio Fognini also earned a code violation and point penalty soon after when he angrily threw his racquet.
Also Read: Australian Open 2020: All You Need To Know About 15-year-old American Sensation Coco Gauff
Australian Open 2020: Denis Shapovalov breakdown on Day 1
Canadian young tennis sensation Denis Shapovalov also had a meltdown on Monday during his match against Hungary's Marton Fucsovics. Shapovalov struggled right from the start at Margaret Court Arena and given a code violation after smashing his racket into the blue hardcourt when he was broken early in the third set. His behaviour saw him receive a warning from umpire Renaud Lichtenstein which further irked the 20-year-old, who yelled "It’s my racket, I can do whatever I want with it!”
Australian Open 2020: Fabio Fognini vs Reilly Opelka highlights
Fabio Fognini came from two sets down to beat American Reilly Opelka 3-6, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(10/5) to reach the second round of the Australian Open. The match which ended in 3 hours and 38 minutes which saw Fognini hitting 11 aces and winning 142 points.
Updated 12:59 IST, January 21st 2020