Serena Williams' ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou amused by Hubert Hurkacz's "change the chair umpire" request to Grigor Dimitrov in French Open 4R
Hubert Hurkacz's request to Grigor Dimitrov seeking the replacement of the chair umpire amused Serena Williams' ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou. Their 2024 French Open fourth-round clash on Stade Roland Garros' Court Suzanne Lenglen went Dimitrov's way. The No. 10 seed won 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the Paris Major's quarterfinals for the first time.
Dimitrov and Hurkacz are regarded as two of men's tennis' most likeable players. However, the Pole seemed to break character ahead of their 12th game in the match played on Sunday, 2 June, during a changeover in the third set. At the time, Hurkacz led Dimitrov a close 6-5 in the set. The Pole suddenly decided to revisit an incident that had happened two games prior.
The incident involved chair umpire Alison Hughes ruling a forehand by Hurkacz to be out. However, the Pole, mistaking another mark for the spot where his forehand had landed, was adamant that the chair umpire had got her decision wrong. The World No. 8 had demanded the supervisor's presence as even Dimitrov got involved and tried his best to make the Pole understand that the umpire had been, indeed, correct. Hurkacz proceeded to look at his team box, yelling:
"So bad!"
After that, the Pole managed to contain his frustration temporarily. However, two games later, they seemed to boil over, leading him to request Dimitrov for a change of the chair umpire. The Bulgarian, flabbergasted, initially looked keen to leave the decision up to Hurkacz. However, soon enough, he made his way to Hurkacz's bench to try to calm the Pole down again.
Patrick Mouratoglou, who guided Serena Williams to 10 of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, was in splits watching the incident unfold. The Frenchman took to X and shared a video of the incident, captioning his post:
"When Hurkacz asks Dimitrov to change the chair umpire during the match," followed by a laughing emoji.
"It's a tricky business out there" - Grigor Dimitrov took an open-minded stance on Hubert Hurkacz's chair umpire controversy
After the match, Grigor Dimitrov was asked about Hubert Hurkacz's request. The Bulgarian seemed to deny any suggestion of it being controversial, offering that it was just the "heat of a moment" that had prompted the Pole to request the change. Dimitrov also empathized with Hughes and other umpires, who often find themselves under scrutiny, particularly in close calls.
"I think the thing is we all can say very difficult things in the heat of a moment. I'm sure whatever he said, it was not meant in a bad way. Also, the umpires, they're trying their best. It's a tricky business out there when the ball gets so close to the line," Dimitrov said during a press conference.
The Bulgarian's maiden French Open quarterfinals appearance is set to be a challenging face-off with Jannik Sinner, the World No. 2 and one of the favorites for the title. If Dimitrov succeeds in upsetting him, he will then face either Carlos Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas.