Outraged Wimbledon star explodes and demands ‘disgraceful’ rule is changed | Tennis | Sport

Felix Auger-Aliassime has called for the tennis authorities to consider changing the ‘disgrace of a rule’ over medical timeouts, after he was involved in a heated exchange with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at Wimbledon. In their men’s singles fourth-round matchup, third seed Auger-Aliassime ended Davidovich Fokina’s grass-court run with an astonishing 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-1 victory in four hours and 26 minutes. The five-set thriller was arguably the match of the tournament so far, including one epic point that went viral on social media, while Auger-Aliassime hit 27 aces throughout the match.

However, things turned ugly when the two players argued courtside with the umpire on match point. Auger-Aliassime hit out at the rule that allowed Davidovich Fokina to take a medical timeout midway through his service game. The Spaniard appeared to roll over his ankle when sliding on the grass, just after he saved two match points towards the end of the fourth set. As Auger-Aliassime served for the match, Davidovich Fokina could be seen hobbling after chasing the ball down the baseline.

He called the timeout at 15-40 on the Canadian’s serve with two break points. Auger-Aliassime double-faulted to hand a crucial game to his opponent, and it appeared that the timeout had completely revitalised Davidovich Fokina as he forced a deciding set through the tiebreaker.

Auger-Aliassime rediscovered his dominance to breeze through the final set 6-1, firing home an ace on match point. The pair squared up as they shook hands at the net, with Auger-Aliassime making his thoughts clear to his opponent at what he perceived to be delaying tactics.

“Well, the interactions between him and I, I don’t want to get into that,” he said in a press conference. “If he wants to come in here and talk about it, he can. But he knows my opinion. That’s one of these things that I have differences with people in my life on tour. They know what I think. That’s the most important.

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“Now what I can say, though, is that I think the rule has to change. I think that obviously as long as the rule is like that, a player will use it to their advantage.

“I think that it’s very simple: if you’re hurt bad, or whatever you’re hurt, while the game’s going on of your opponent, in the middle of the game, the opponent is serving, the shot clock is on, basically when you’re hurt bad, you’re forfeiting every point until you can call the physio.

“If the physio helps you recover, you play your service game. If you’re hurt bad, then you retire, obviously. But to stop in the middle of an opponent’s service game and to be able to call the physio, I think that’s a disgrace of a rule. I don’t see any other sport where you can do that. I mark my words. It’s a disgrace of a rule.”

The current rules stipulate that a medical timeout can only be granted when the physio decides that extra time is required to address a condition. Players are allowed one medical timeout per injury and the final decision on whether it qualifies rests with medical staff, not the player.

Speaking on court straight after the match, Auger-Aliassime said: “I’ve played a few rollercoaster matches in the course of my career but this is at the top of the charts. It was a crazy match. Great level, high intensity, high focus. He’s been on a winning streak on grass.

“There were only a few points between us and the level kept being high. I’m thrilled to get through because it was a very hard-fought match. More than four hours and that’s a lot of work, a lot of mileage in the legs but I feel good and I’m excited for what comes next.”

Auger-Aliassime could have been forgiven for expecting a more straightforward task in the next round. Instead, he faces the seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who is seeded seventh, in the quarter-final on Tuesday.