John McEnroe may be long retired, but umpires still have it tough.
A popular internet video showed a supervisor chased off court at a Futures tournament in Turkey, while another official was heatedly accused of favoring a player at a Challenger tournament in the United States.
In the first case, the ITF has announced a provisional suspension of Majid Abedini, pending investigation of a possible major offense of Aggravated Behavior under its code of conduct. The 29-year-old Iranian was defaulted down 6-0, 2-0, and filmed having an altercation with a supervisor.
A British player who requested anonymity told the Telegraph, "We’d heard that he had had a shouting match with one of the referees the previous week so we weren’t all that surprised when it kicked off.
"The court supervisor came on to give him a warning for his language. The first time, the Iranian guy started screaming ‘No, no, get off, not you,’ so I don’t know if it was the same referee he had already had one row with. Then there were a few more loud expletives, the court supervisor comes on again."
The player then aimed a ball at the supervisor, said the British player, adding, "Then he chases the referee off court and he’s trying to slam the fence down. Three referees had to come on to finally get him off the court."
In another episode, Daniil Medvedev was defaulted for aggravated unsportsmanlike conduct in his match against Donald Young at the Savannah Challenger. The USTA was quoted saying that the Russian "questioned the impartiality of the chair umpire, because of her race."