Reily Opelka refused to shake the chair umpire’s hand in a stunning set of events at the Dallas Open.
The American was up against Britain’s Cameron Norrie in a gruelling three-set win but the game ended in controversy over a point penalty.
Opelka defeated the British number two 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in a match that lasted two and half hours.
Very little separated the pair as they both won 71 percent of their points on serve and equally shared the 202 points played.
Norrie claimed the first set but lost a crunch second-set tiebreak before he was broken late in the deciding set to lose the match as Opelka proceeded into the quarter-finals.
At the end of the match, the big-serving American opted not to shake the umpire’s hand as moments before he’d received a point penalty when serving out the match.
Opelka received the punishment because he cursed out a heckler who had been disrupting the game for a while.
At one point the 27-year-old tossed the ball to serve but had to catch it because of another interruption.
So the American turned to face the heckler, confronting them. “You doing it on f***ing purpose or what?” Opelka shouted before telling them to get out.
Chair umpire Greg Allensworth quickly handed Opelka a code violation for audible obscenity, resulting in a point penalty.
It gave Norrie a break point at a crucial moment.
Opelka was not having it though as he stormed to the chair to plead his case, explaining to the official why he confronted the disruptive spectator.
The stand-off did not end until the supervisor was called to the court, but Allensworth’s decision was not overturned.
Nevertheless, Opelka saved the break point and got out alive, as he booked his spot in the last four.
In his post-game interview, the American took the opportunity to blast Allensworth and called for the ATP to penalise him, claiming players do not like him.
“Greg Allensworth was the worst ref in the institute like we were talking about in the locker room of all the players. It’s a coincidence like literally two days ago,” Opelka told reporters.
“Definitely, like the worst umpire on tour. He almost changed the outcome of that match just because he doesn’t really know what he’s doing.”
Opelka went on to add that the umpire could not explain why he was penalised, claiming that he got sensitive when asked why he did not throw out the spectator who heckled him.
@CMurray234 via XOpelka used his post-game interview to call for the umpire’s suspension[/caption]
“(Allensworth) got emotional, like we were arguing. He got very intense and frantic, couldn’t give me an answer. He didn’t tell that guy to shut up,” Opelka added.
“If you want to come here to be an a******, then I’m gonna be one back. It shouldn’t be one-sided traffic. If you want to be disrespectful to me, I can’t just be a punching bag.
“And if the ref isn’t doing his job and then he penalizes me, it’s not a good look. Almost changed the outcome of the match.”
Opelka will turn his attention to Tommy Paul as he faces the defending champion in the quarter-finals, as the third seed came through a final-set decider to defeat Ethan Quinn 6-4 5-7 6-4.