Frenchman Jeremy Chardy could face a ban from tennis after he accused German chair umpire Miriam Bley of lying during his 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 loss to Brit Dan Evans on Thursday.
Chardy, 35, said the umpire was the ‘worst he’s dealt with in 20 years’ and called for umpires to penalised for making mistakes.
“I mean, it’s what I said to her — if I miss a point, then break my racquet, I will get fined. You can do a huge mistake, and nothing will happen to you,” he said at the post match press conference.
“So, yeah, I think this is not fair. Has to be the same for both, no?”
Chardy was angry after umpire Bley called let during the first set of the match with the score tied at 3-3.
During a rally a ball in Chardy’s pocket fell out on court, and the Frenchman hit his ensuing forehand into the net.
Chardy was fuming when the point was awarded to Evans.
Chardy insisted play should have been stopped when the ball fell from his pocket and the point replayed.
During an on-court delay Chardy asked Bley if she was ‘looking at the birds’ rather than the rally.
‘I’ve never seen that in my life. I’ve played for 20 years and I’ve never had an umpire bad like you. Not one. You don’t see a ball,’ Chardy said.
‘I hit there a forehand, I go over there so it’s like five seconds and you don’t even see.
‘Where are you looking? Are you looking at the birds? Are you looking somewhere in the crowd?
‘That is the biggest mistake of the Australian Open already.’
Chardy called for the supervisor a number of times and continued protesting, but when. Play resumed Evans took control as Chardy lost his concentration.
