World number one Aryna Sabalenka was not only the protagonist in the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart tournament for her victory against Belgian Elise Mertens (6-4, 6-1), but also for a gesture she made during the match that surprised many, although it is not the first time that a player has done so.
After Mertens called a medical timeout for discomfort in her right leg after breaking Sabalenka’s serve to go 4-3 up, the Belarusian protested the decision of an umpire, who called a ball out, a stroke that was confirmed by the chair umpire, Miriam Bley.
The world No. 1 asked the umpire to review the mark, but she refused and ruled the ball valid. Sabalenka then took her mobile phone to take a picture of the mark. After the match, and the victory, the tennis player, who has not yet published that image on social networks, said that “I felt that the judge was angry about the photo I took. When I shook her hand, she looked at me with a very interesting expression and gave me a firm handshake.”
I felt that the judge was angry about the photo I took
Although unusual, it is not the first time something similar has happened. In 2013, at Roland Garros, in his match against Frenchman Richard Gasquet, Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky was unhappy with a ball that the umpire had called out. Despite the protests, the umpire did not change his mind, so Stakhovsky went to his bench, took his mobile phone, took a picture of the mark and showed it to the crowd.
On that occasion, the umpire refused to give him the point and also warned him that if he did something similar again he would lose the game.
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