In light of Hubert Hurkacz asking for umpire to be changed at French Open: When John McEnroe & Ilie Nastase's drama actually led to umpire change
Hubert Hurkacz and Grigor Dimitrov faced off in the round of 16 stages at the French Open 2024. In a fiercely contested match, both tennis stars thrilled the crowd with their tennis as Dimitrov emerged victorious in straight sets. However, an incident involving the chair umpire in the dying minutes of the match stole the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The World No. 8, Hubert Hurkacz asked Dimitrov whether he would like to change the chair umpire during a changeover in the third set. The chair umpire Alison Hughes had rightly called a Hurkacz's forehand as out, but the Polish star refused to believe her and constantly asked for the supervisor. This incident completely derailed Hurkacz, with Dimitrov winning the match 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-6(3).
While Dimitrov looked completely bemused at the incident, it was not the first time an umpire took the limelight in a high-profile match. Back in 1979, John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase were involved in a heated match at the Flushing Meadows at the US Open, which caused a riot, change of umpire, and changing of the guard.
John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase controversy at the US Open 1979
John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase clashed at the US Open in 1979 in what turned out to be one of the most controversial matches ever. The then 20-year-old McEnroe was taking tennis by storm and faced a former World No. 1, 33-year-old, Ilie Nastase in what was potentially a 'changing of the guard' match at the US Open.
Ilie Nastase was using all his tricks to disrupt his young rival as it was tough for him to compete physically with McEnroe. The match was on the knife edge throughout its course as Nastase constantly complained about the line calls from the umpire and even cribbed about the noise from the airplanes flying above.
The match reached its boiling point in the fourth set when Ilie Nastase laid down on the court as he felt McEnroe took too long to serve. The chair umpire, Mike Hammond, who had already warned Nastase before, penalized the Romanian with a game penalty to enrage the crowd. The fans started to throw bottle cans on the court and caused havoc, which delayed the match by 15 minutes. The chair umpire soon defaulted Nastase and awarded the win to John McEnroe.
A fight broke out in the stands between the spectators and some fans stormed the court. Police had to intervene to stop the frantic crowd from damaging the court even more. Soon, the tournament director, Bill Talbert, decided to restart the match from the fourth set and replaced Mike Hammond as the umpire.
John McEnroe won the fourth set to win the match 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on his way to the US Open title. This second-round clash between John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase will forever be remembered as one of the fiercest tennis matches ever.