Reilly Opelka stayed in his chair despite being told to serve. (Image: Getty)
The BNP Paribas Open clash between Reilly Opelka and Roman Safiullin at Indian Wells was overshadowed by a bizarre row between the American and the umpire. Safiullin prevailed 7-5 6-4 to set up a clash with 15th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the next round, but only after his opponent had tried to get the match stopped due to bad light.
The fiery Opelka led 5-2 in the first set before things unravelled, losing the next four games in a row. Clearly rattled, he was due to serve at 1-1 in the second when he began complaining to officials about the poor visibility. After being told to continue, he initially refused to step back on the court before telling the umpire he needed medical treatment.
“Call me the physio then; I had four surgeries on my wrist,” demanded the 27-year-old. Instead, he was told this was not the right way to halt play and handed a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Eventually, the lights came on, and Opelka duly served out the game. A physio then came out to offer treatment, but the world No.145 suddenly decided he didn’t need his wrist seeing to.
Opelka told the umpire to call him a physio after claiming he had a wrist problem. (Image: Getty)
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Safiullin managed to keep his composure despite the interruption and later got the crucial break he needed to advance to the last 64. But for Opelka, the defeat signified the latest in a long line of career controversies.
Last month, during his Dallas Open second-round clash against , he argued with a crowd member after claiming they had distracted him while serving. He twice directed an expletive at the individual and was docked a point for his behaviour.
After the match, , accusing him of failing to do his job. “The worst umpire on tour, he’s real bad,” he said.
“Almost changed the outcome of that match just because he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. And he got emotional when we were arguing. He didn’t do his job, so I had to tell him, ‘Get out of here.'”