WATCH: Rising star gets disqualified for furious attack on umpire’s chair

ATP Tour

James Richardson
May 24, 2023

Mikael Ymer of Sweden was eliminated from the Lyon Open after violently slamming his racket against the chair of the umpire after a protracted dispute with the official.

At 5-5 in the first set, Ymer and umpire Rogerio Santos got into a furious argument in the Swedes clash with Arthur Fils in the round of 16 in Lyon.

The Portuguese official refused to get up from his seat, so he quickly ordered Santos to verify the ball mark where he thought it went out.

Ymer accepted the ruling and carried on with the game but only for one more point as he was broken right away and exploded.

Ymer became enraged at having dropped serve in that fashion and went ballistic, smashing his racket to bits on the foot of the umpire’s chair.

Immediately disqualified, the 24-year-old saw Fils advanced by walkover and is likely to face further sanction from the ATP over his actions.

53rd-ranked Ymer defeated seventh-seeded Richard Gasquet of France 6-3, 7-5 in the opening round.

The chair umpire had refused not only to look at the ball mark but also to show Ymer the mark where he claimed the ball struck the line which is what sparked fury from the Swede.

Ymer contended that the chair umpire should at the very least enter the court to examine the mark, citing the fact that Frenchman Richard Gasquet was permitted to do so after a point in his previous match.

American Taylor Fritz pointed out that while he doesn’t support Ymer’s actions, officials often make a call that the ball has taken the line if there is any sort of irregular bounce.

“Not justifying the reaction at all but the amount of people that think a bad bounce = line hit is insane… crazy bounces happen all over the court and especially near lines,” Fritz tweeted in response to the video of the incident shared on social media.

The incident has been compared to the tirade launched by Alexander Zverev against the umpire which also ended with Zverev striking the umpire’s chair albeit higher up on the chair and closer to the feet of the official.

Zverev remained on a probation of sorts following that incident in Acapulco for a year but his injury at the French Open meant that he missed much of the season and didn’t pick up another code violation in that time. He would lose his entire purse for the tournament and was fined $40,000 by the ATP.

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Mikael Ymer