Shang Juncheng called out Alejandro Davidovich Fokina after the Spaniard was wrongly awarded a crucial point during their match and went on to win 7-5 6-3. Despite talking it out in the locker room, Shang still took to social media to slam his opponent.
There was a controversial end to the first set of Shang’s match against Davidovich Fokina. The Chinese teenager had a point to take it to a tiebreak while serving at 5-6 and should have won it as he hit a drop shot that the 27th seed couldn’t get to in time.
The ball bounced twice before Davidovich Fokina returned it, meaning the point was supposed to go to Shang. But the umpire didn’t notice and the rally continued with the world No. 111 hitting the ball out and losing the point. The Spaniard went on to break to take the set and ultimately won the match.
Shang wasn’t happy with the wrong call after suffering defeat and vented his frustrations on his Instagram story hours after the match. “Highlight of the day at @mutuamadridopen always nice to play a player that’s so honest,” he wrote over a video showing the incident.
The 19-year-old also shared a screenshot of a comment which read: “Double bounce is new one bounce. Serve winner is new replay.” Tagging the person who left the comment, Shang added: “Creating new rules?”
Shang’s decision to call out Davidovich Fokina is unexpected given that the two privately discussed the issue in the locker room after the match. The Spaniard was asked about the incident and explained that he didn’t realise the ball had bounced twice, though he clarified that when he chatted to his opponent about it.
“As I said later with Juncheng in the locker room and with my team, I am running at maximum speed and I don’t realise if it bounces twice or once,” the world No. 28 explained.
“Yes, it is true that it was a strange bounce after the first ball, but the umpire is much better placed than me, so he decides. In my case, with all the adrenaline and the moment of the set where we were, I haven’t noticed either.”
