From Novak Djokovic calling him out for theatrics to bizarre Nick Kyrgios drama at US Open: Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani's most controversial moments
Tennis has seen its fair share of drama involving players, coaches and the audience among several other stakeholders and there are quite a few examples involving umpires that are included in this list of controversies. In continuation to the same, Swedish chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani is one such name who has been involved in a range of controversies involving some of the leading tennis stars.
From heated debates with Daniil Medvedev in Monte Carlo to arguments with Novak Djokovic at the Italian Open, here are some of the most controversial moments involving Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani.
#4 Daniil Medvedev - Monte Carlo 2024
World No.4 Daniil Medvedev was involved in a heated argument with chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani during his second-round match against Gael Monfils at the Monte Carlo Masters last month.
While despite the challenges Medvedev beat the Frenchman 6-2,6-4, the match received attention because of the controversies underlying the same, with particular reference to the fourth game of the second set where the Russian was leading 30-0.
While a linesman declared a shot by Monfils to be out, Lahyani inspected the mark and declared it to be in despite the linesman's judgment being in line with the Hawk-Eye replay on television. Additionally, the confusion followed the subsequent points as well where Medvedev challenged the linesmen's calls.
The heated exchange continued during the changeover and went as follows:
"It’s a freaking joke it’s out how did I lose the game when it’s out? It's out, it's out! F**king s**t," Medvedev said.
"I saw the catch in the back. Maybe I am wrong. If I'm wrong, I will apologize," Lahyani replied.
"How can you apologize? That was a freaking game, it's a freaking... sport man. I don't know how to.... Oh my god! You guys are getting ridiculous. With Hawk-Eye live, you don't see anything," the Russian further added.
Despite the heated exchange, on winning the match altogether, Medvedev and Lahyani shook hands and reconciled while apologizing to each other.
#3 Dan Evans - Italian Open 2024
Dan Evans and Fabio Fognini faced each other in the first round of the Italian Open a few days back and the match was marked by yet another controversy involving chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani.
In this case, Lahyani awarded a point to Fognini in a call that was rightfully made by Evans wherein the British tennis player claimed Fognini's shot to be out, something that was also confirmed by the match video later.
The point in question led to a heated argument between Lahyani and Evans wherein Fognini also stepped in to support the former's call that favored him. However, while Evans engaged in an intense debate with the Chair umpire, the call, although wrong, was not made in his favor and the same translated to the match that was ultimately won by Fognini.
#2 Nick Kyrgios - US Open 2018
Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani was punished with a two-week suspension for giving tennis player Nick Kyrgios a pep talk during his second-round match against Pierre Hugues Hebert.
According to the US Open officials, Lahyani went beyond the protocol and overstepped his mark by coming down from the chair and walking up to the Australian.
Lahyani was heard encouraging Kyrgios who was two sets down, wherein he said (via The Scroll):
“I want to help you...This isn’t you. I know that. I have seen your matches. You are great for tennis."
While the tournament officials went ahead to suspend Lahyani, Kyrgios claimed that his words did not influence his match-winning performance in any way.
On the other hand, coaches, officials, and even tennis stars deemed Lahyani to have crossed the line. Roger Federer, for one, said:
“It’s not the umpire’s role to go down from the chair. But I get what he was trying to do. He behaves the way he behaves."
He further added, "You as an umpire take a decision on the chair, do you like it or don’t you like it. But you don’t go and speak like that, in my opinion."
#1 Novak Djokovic - Italian Open 2023
World No.1 Novak Djokovic reached the quarterfinals of the Italian Open last year wherein he ultimately lost to Holger Rune in a match that was marked by controversies and resulted in backlash directed to the Serb.
After losing the first set 6-2, the Serb equaled the score by winning the second set. However, Rune came back stronger with a 2-0 lead and it was during the said game that Djokovic got involved in a heated argument with Lahyani.
While serving at 15-30, Djokovic received a time violation by the umpire, following which he snapped at Lahyani for the time he took to call out the score and said:
“What’s the drama, waiting in between English and Italian? What are you acting here or what?”
He further said, “This is how you do what? Why do you call the score for 20 seconds? Just call it a score, for God’s sake!”
While many, including tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg, praised Djokovic for standing up to the umpire, the Serb received a lot of criticism from tennis fans who believed that he directed his frustration of losing the match to Lahyani.