Stefanos Tsitsipas angrily shouted at umpire Damien Dumusois as his US Open hopes ended with defeat to in-form Andrey Rublev.
Tsitsipas has a history of taking his time to get ready at changeovers and in the fourth set, his frustrations boiled over.
After Rublev broke to lead 4-3, Tsitsipas was told by Dumusois to hurry up but the Greek responded by shouting: “Do whatever you want because you’re the worst.
“For some reason you have something against me, I don’t know what you have … because you’re French, probably. And you’re all weirdos. Give me a warning, I don’t care.”
Tsitsipas did receive a time violation and point penalty which meant he started the next game 15-0 down but he would later break back when Rublev served for the match.
However, Tsitsipas’ fightback didn’t last much longer as he was broken again and Rublev finally got the job done to win 6-4 6-7 7-6 7-5.
Speaking post-match, Tsitsipas addressed the incident, saying: “It’s not very pleasant when you have the umpire give you warnings and time violations and coaching violations during a match. It can affect your thinking. It can affect your decision-making.”
Tsitsipas also rejected the notion he had been coached by his father from the player box, adding: “I believe he’s not right.
“My father, who usually does the talking, is trying to pump me up by saying ‘Come on’. Raising my confidence by not coaching but by trying to boost me up.
“I feel sometimes if my dad is coaching, I’m so concentrated in that match there is no way I’m going to think of what my dad tells me from the outside. I just hear a buzz in my head.”
Tsitsipas’ defeat marked the second time in succession he had been dumped out of a Grand Slam in the first round having suffered the same fate at Wimbledon earlier this summer.
Meanwhile, Rublev said: “Both of us were in tough conditions, we played an amazing match. Both of us were tired, he started to cramp. This is five sets we’re working for and it’s amazing. When you win matches like this it gives you a lot of confidence.”
Elsewhere at Flushing Meadows, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini beat Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-3 2-6 6-2 to advance to the US Open second round for the first time in his career.
The 23-year-old hit 18 aces to beat the Frenchman in two hours and 43 minutes.
Roger Federer has also reached the second round after overcoming Sumit Nagal in four sets.
Rafael Nadal is in action on Tuesday, with the Spaniard facing John Millman.
