DAVIDOVICH FOKINA CRUSHES OUT OF WIMBLEDON DUE TO CODE VIOLATION. ‘WHAT A LOUSY WAY TO END IT’.
Last night saw a dramatic end to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s Wimbledon dreams as the Spaniard got knocked out of the tournament in an unusual fashion. At a crucial moment during the match, he lost his cool and hit the ball out of the stadium. The chair umpire was not happy with his actions, and his punishment ultimately cost him a spot in the next round.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina made a shocking exit from Wimbledon on Wednesday night after he copped a point penalty at a crucial moment during his match against Jiri Vesely.
The surprising incident took place during the fifth-set match tie-break between the pair on Court 17.
Davidovich Fokina had hit a forehand into the net, which gave his opponent a 9-7 lead in the first-to-10 tie-breaker.
This irritated the world No. 37 to the point where he smashed a ball out of the stadium in frustration after one of the ball kids had thrown it to him.
The chair umpire, Carlos Ramos, was not pleased with this behaviour and gave Davidovich Fokina a code violation for ball abuse.
It was the Spaniard’s second violation in the match, which meant that he received a point penalty as well.
This, of course, costed Davidovich Fokina the match. The point penalty made it 10-7 to Vesely which handed the Czech player the victory and ended the second round contest.
“That’s crazy… what a lousy way to end it,” said John McEnroe, the former World No.1 who won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including three at Wimbledon and nine Grand Slam men’s doubles titles with five being at , on commentary for ESPN.
The earlier code violation in the match that Davidovich Fokina, who had eliminated No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz in another fifth-set tie-breaker in the first round on Monday, received was for an audible obscenity.
When he smashed the ball out of the stadium, he had not known he would have received a point penalty because it constituted as a different offence from the first one, according to reports.
It was clear that Davidovich Fokina was upset about the two incidents of the match, as he was spotted still sitting in his chair long after the match ended and Vesely had left the court.
The final score was 6-3 5-7 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(7) after four hours of play.
The victory means that Vesely moves on to face 30th-seeded Tommy Paul of the United States in the third round.
Before that he will compete in the men’s doubles on Thursday with his partner Alexander Bublik. The duo will take on Radu Albot and Nikoloz Basilashvili on Court 11.
