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Defending champion Maria Sharapova demanded the French Open fall into line with the other three Grand Slams by introducing Hawk-Eye technology after suffering a wrong call during her third round win yesterday. |
Sharapova made the last-16 with a 6-1, 7-5 win over China’s Zheng Jie, recovering from 1-4 down in the second set.
“It’s not even about the fact of the call, whether it was in or out. I think for me it was the fact that the umpire did not recognize that the mark he pointed out was about a foot away from the actual mark...
The Russian argued with French chair umpire Emmanuel Joseph after a second serve at 30-40 in the fifth game of the second set was called out. She claimed the official was looking at the wrong mark on the clay, with television pictures confirming her ball had indeed landed on the line.
“It’s not even about the fact of the call, whether it was in or out. I think for me it was the fact that the umpire did not recognize that the mark he pointed out was about a foot away from the actual mark,” said the world number two.
“Second of all, yes, all the other Grand Slams have Hawk-Eye. Why don’t we have a system like this? I mean, is it a money concern? I don’t think so,” the Russian added.
Tipsarevic in foul-mouthed clash with unruly fans
Serbian eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic launched a foul-mouthed tirade at French Open fans yesterday who he claimed were sabotaging his Roland Garros campaign.
Tipsarevic lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in the third round in a tense confrontation.
The 28-year-old singled out two spectators who he said talked and shouted out his opponent’s name every time he tossed the ball to serve. Both men were eventually ejected from the stadium after Tipsarevic had made repeated requests early in the second set to have them dealt with.
“There were two guys in the corner constantly taunting and laughing, and you could really see they didn’t come to watch any tennis but just to pose,” said Tipsarevic.
“I just snapped, because you could really see they didn’t really care, what the score was or even who was playing. They just wanted to look nice and be at the French Open. They had no respect to the players in terms of being quiet or whatever. So at one point I was getting ready to serve at like, I think 30-15 on my serve, and one of the guys just started screaming, calling somebody to the stands.”
Tipsarevic admitted he was wrong to swear at the fans, an outburst that could lead to a fine. “There’s no excuse for my reaction I should have talked to the referee first, but the referee told him to be quiet. Then one of the guys kept provoking me, screaming, ‘Come on, Youzhny’ before I tossed my balls...”