Dan Evans RAGES at French Open umpire in first-round defeat by Holger Rune, furiously claiming ref's conversations with rival broke his focus: 'Let the f***ing match play'
- Dan Evans got into a lively argument with umpire Jaume Campistol on Tuesday
- The heated rant came during his first-round defeat by No 13 seed Holger Rune
- The British No 3 lost 6-4 6-4 6-4 on Tuesday in what is his seventh-straight defeat
As darkness fell at Roland Garros and the gloom threatened to swallow up British tennis, at least Dan Evans raged against the dying of the light.
Evans put up a good fight against No 13 seed Holger Rune – and got into a lively argument with umpire Jaume Campistol.
It was at a key stage of the match when the row broke out. First Rune was warned for smacking the clay as Evans broke to lead 4-2 in the third set and demanded an explanation from the umpire.
Then at 15-15 on the Evans serve, Rune engaged in a second extended discussion with the umpire over a line call.
When play resumed, Rune won three points in a row to break and Evans – entirely reasonably – claimed his concentration had been broken by the extended delay.
Dan Evans exchanged heated words with the umpire, in his first-round French Open exit
Evans got into an argument with with umpire Jaume Campistol, pictured right in conversation with Daniil Medvedev, left, at the Australian Open in 2022
The British No 3 lost 6-4 6-4 6-4 to No 13 seed Holger Rune (right), on Tuesday evening
‘He doesn’t need a conversation on my serve. Let the f***ing match play,’ he barked at Campistol.
‘Do your job. You don’t have to have a conversation with him. It’s twice in two games.’
‘You have a point,’ acknowledged Campistol.
‘I know I have a point – you DON’T have a point.
‘You don’t need (to give) an explanation: you call the ball out, that’s it.
‘You have a duty to keep the match flowing and you’re having a conversation with him. A long one. Two long ones. Madness.’
Evans did not win another game after that exchange; the final knockings were 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
‘I'm fed up with the umpires full stop,’ said Evans after the match. ‘What's the point in the conversation? Rune accepted the call. No one's changing the call. They both accepted the call and he had a chat about it.
‘And I'm waiting to serve. It's freezing on the court. The match was flowing great and then f***ing just stopped in the middle and I don't understand what the umpire's... but anyway, that's not the reason I lost.
‘That's just part of the issue, part of the problem, but he'll (Campistol) be back in work again tomorrow.
Evans complained the referees conferring with his opponent disrupted his concentration
‘On the whole the umpiring is good. The clay is a difficult surface. But having a conversation on somebody else's serve, you don't see it in any other sport. In rugby they get 10 metres or whatever, squash you're not allowed, it's no talking.
‘We just sit there and have a conversation.’
The 34-year-old does not always express himself in the most sanguine manner but Evans was quite right and he would be forgiven for feeling like the world is against him at the moment.
This made it seven tour-level defeats in a row and the fifth of those came amid more umpiring controversy in Rome. He and umpire Mohamed Lahyani had a lively disagreement over which mark on the clay was the correct one.
Evans was quite correct and the umpire was wrong but it was Evans who got the warning and the fine and – he confirmed before Roland Garros – no apology for the gaffe.
He was playing home favourite Fabio Fognini in Rome and a high seed here. Do umpires have an unconscious bias towards bigger names?
‘Remember they do pretty much exactly the same as we do when we all wake up in the morning,’ he replied cryptically. ‘They are humans and I think some of them forget that. We saw many, many examples, but I don't think we need to go into that.’
It is seven tour-level defeats in a row for Evans, in what was another disappointing showing
All that unpleasantness overshadowed a decent effort from Evans and a solid start for Rune, one of the outsiders for this title.
Evans will move on to the doubles with Andy Murray – he needs a victory in whatever format at the moment.
‘Yeah, I'd sign for any win at the minute. Might go play the British tour in Oxford,’ he said.
‘Listen, I'm going to be totally honest. I wasn't enjoying tennis in Barcelona and after Madrid. I took some time off but I'm really enjoying it now. I'm enjoying competing. It's not for the enjoyment or lack of trying.
'That's the annoying thing: I'm pumped to be here, I really embraced the clay again this year and I thought I could have done well here but wasn't to be and to go and play doubles is a another shot at a bit of fun with a good friend.’
