Reilly Opelka was slapped with a code violation after cursing out a heckler (Image: Tennis TV)
Reilly Opelka refused to shake the chair umpire’s hand after a contentious end to his match against .
The American cursed out a heckler and shouted “get out of here” before receiving a point penalty while serving for the match.
Opelka got the job done, winning 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 and publicly called out the umpire, claiming he needed to be put on the sidelines.
British No. 2 Norrie suffered a close defeat at the Dallas Open on Thursday after being two points away from winning in the second-set tiebreak. Opelka stormed back to book his spot in the quarter-final.
But the match was overshadowed by a dramatic incident in the last game. A nearby spectator had heckled Opelka, and he grew tired of the disruption while serving for the match at 5-4 30-30.
The American wildcard tossed the ball to serve but had to catch it because of another interruption. He turned to face the heckler, confronting them. “You doing it on f***ing purpose or what?” Opelka asked before telling them to get out.
Chair umpire Greg Allensworth immediately slapped Opelka with a code violation for audible obscenity, resulting in a point penalty. It gave Norrie a break point at a crucial moment.
Reilly Opelka refused to shake Greg Allensworth’s hand at the end of the match (Image: Tennis TV)
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The rest of the crowd was shocked by the decision, having seen how disruptive the heckler was. The world No. 145 stormed to the chair to plead his case, explaining why he had to confront the spectator.
The supervisor was eventually called to the court, but Allensworth’s decision was not overturned. Opelka saved the break point and got out alive, booking his spot in the last four.
Afterwards, the wildcard refused to shake hands with the umpire and slammed his refereeing. “[The heckler] kept coughing and was hiding behind a pole. I’m like, ‘Dude, I see you’. The guy got kicked out and I got penalised. It makes no sense,” Opelka said.
“[The umpire] got emotional, like we were arguing. He got very intense and frantic, couldn’t give me an answer. He didn’t tell that guy to shut up. He was doing it for like three points.
“He didn’t do a good job, so I had to tell him to get out of here. The guy was being quite rude.”
Explaining why he felt forced to stand up for himself, the 27-year-old added: “If you want to come here to be an a**hole, then I’m going to be one back. It shouldn’t be one-sided traffic
“If you want to be disrespectful to me, I can’t just be a punching bag. And if the ref isn’t doing his job and then he penalizes me, it’s not a good look. Almost changed the outcome of the match.
“He gets no penalty. If I lose that point, I lose that match, that’s a difference in my paycheck. He gets no repercussions. That was bush league.
“The guy shouldn’t have a job or should be sidelined for about four weeks and you learn a thing or two. You can’t make those calls in ATP 500s. You’ve got to understand the situation. You can’t always play by the rulebook. It’s common sense.”
Opelka will now face No. 3 seed Tommy Paul in an all-American quarter-final match.