Matteo Berrettini speaking to the Australian Open umpire. (Image: Getty.)
Matteo Berrettini raged at the Australian Open umpire after he accused the official of making too much noise while sat atop of the chair.
The Italian star went out in a four-set thriller to Holger Rune, finishing second-best in a 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) defeat, despite leading 5-2 in the final tiebreak.
But down 30-15 in the third set, Berrettini hit a ball wide and immediately his attention was lasered on umpire Louise Engzell. A loud noise was made during the rally and Berrettini felt that it came from the official.
As he questioned the situation, with the noise coinciding at the same time as Engzell moved her head, she told the player: “It’s not loud, loud.”
He was under the impression that the umpire had accidentally knocked her microphone, saying: “What do you mean it’s not loud, loud? I heard it.”
Engzell tried to inform Berrettini that the noise had instead come from the crowd, but he was insistent that it bellowed from her microphone and had disrupted the game.
Matteo Berrettini walking away disappointed by the umpire. (Image: Getty)
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Jim Courier’s former coach Brad Stine agreed with Berrettini’s accusation, though felt that if the umpire had knocked her microphone then she would have owned up to it.
“I’m pretty sure she bumped the microphone,” he said on . “That was where we needed or maybe Andy Roddick for the loud, loud (sound), I think they would’ve jumped on that within a second.
“Maybe I’m wrong, if she did bump the microphone you wouldn’t think she would’ve said ‘I’m sorry I did bump the microphones that was my fault’. Maybe she just didn’t own up to it.”
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