Drama is ubiquitous in sports, and tennis is no different. We recently saw two players argue in the third round of the ongoing Miami Open. Chris O’Connell played against Martin Damm Jr. and found himself fuming at the antics of the player as he claimed nuisance during his serve. The chair umpire had to intervene and warn both players, eventually.

O’Connell was on a roll as he stepped into the Miami Open. In the second round, he even managed to beat Frances Tiafoe and faced Damm Jr. in a two-set clash, but found himself fuming at his opponent. 

“Stop talking”: Umpire shuts down 20-year-old American rising star 

As Chris O’Connell served during the first set, he closed out a game with an ace. While players would be happy to end a game in such a manner, O’Connell had a bone to pick with his opponent. As he walked up to the net, he said, “What’re you doing? Right before I serve, you’re yelling.” Damm Jr. replied, “What?” O’Connell then cleared it out as he said that he was causing a disruption. 

“Right before I serve, you’re yelling out. I don’t really care if you do it after a point. But right before I serve.” Damm Jr. then replied with, “So what?” As the two were ready to argue more, the chair umpire jumped in and said, “All of this is better if you come through me. It’s not good.”

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The chair umpire interrupted the retort by Damm Jr. and said, “Stop talking. It’s not good if you talk to each other.”

However, the two players did not pay heed to the chair umpire, and Damm Jr. went back to the baseline, saying, “The balls in your hand, you’re holding them. It’s not when you’re serving.” They continued the clash after the argument, which saw O’Connell secure the win in two sets, 7-6, 7-6.  

While chair umpires often get tangled with players, they do not hesitate to shut down the crowd either.

Carlos Bernardes gets involved with the crowd over heckling

Nick Kyrgios faced Rafael Nadal in the 2022 Indian Wells Masters, which became a match filled with drama. The crowd also got involved as they made loud noises during the clash. Eventually, the chair umpire, Carlos Bernardes, had to step in to silence the audience. He said, “Ten thousand people who want to watch tennis here and you are the only one screaming like crazy.”

Clearly unhappy with the noise made by the crowd, Bernardes stepped up to shut them down. The two moments, coupled with many around the world, show the authority possessed by chair umpires and how they have to act during a scene that can escalate. What do you make of the latest incident involving the two tennis stars and the umpire? Let us know in the comments section below.

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