Jack Draper won his Cincinnati Open match against Felix Auger-Aliassime with what appeared to be a shot that bounced on his side of the court first. The Canadian suggested to the Briton: “Jack, you know.” To be fair, he might not have…
Here are 11 more incidents that lit the fuse of either rule-bending, unsportsmanlike conduct or just plain cheating allegations.
The Pole and current world No 1 had a majestic 2022, at one point winning 37 consecutive matches. The San Diego Open title was her eighth of the season, but her straight-sets victory over Donna Vekic didn’t go without controversy. As she served at break point and 2-3 down in the second set, Swiatek waved her arms over her head at the net as the Croatian was about to hit a shot. Swiatek apologised afterwards, claiming it was an involuntary act. However, she did something similar against Lauren Davis and Ons Jabeur at the US Open. John McEnroe said: “It was a little bit below the belt.”
The Greek star has just dropped his father as coach, but admitted to violating the rules when he was all too happy to hear from Tsitsipas Snr during the period when courtside advice was banned.
Things came to a head in the 2022 Australian Open semi-final against Daniil Medvedev. The Russian eventually won in five sets but accused his opponent of receiving coaching from the stands, which was only authorized in July 2022. “Are you mad? For what? His father can coach every point? Are you stupid?” blasted Medvedev to the umpire.
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Gaston made a breakthrough at his home major in the 2020 French Open when he made the fourth round. However, the 23-year-old’s loss of form last year coincided with accusations of unsportsmanlike conduct.
During the Madrid Open second round, he intentionally dropped a ball from his pocket against Borna Coric when the Serbian was about to smash a winner. The ATP had warned him about this behaviour beforehand and dished out a fine of £125,000 (144k euros). It was halved on appeal.
During a thrilling Hamburg European Open final in 2022, Carlos Alcaraz was facing defeat to Lorenzo Musetti at 4-5 down in the second set. Musetti lunged at a shot that appeared to bounce twice and ended up winning the point.
Alcaraz complained to the chair immediately with (a respectful) two fingers but to no avail. The Spaniard showed resilience by breaking fair and square, but ended up losing the third set for his first ATP final loss.
Ostapenko might not be on Ajla Tomljanovic’s Xmas card list after a fiery clash between the two in the third round of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. Tomljanovic had just won seven games on the trot to go 4-0 up in the decider when her opponent called for a medical timeout.
The Australian was furious, suggesting to the umpire that the Latvian was “lying”, calling it “disgraceful behaviour” from the former French Open champion. Ostapenko claimed it was her opponent who was being disrespectful at the end of the match. The 2017 Roland Garros champion said if she was even 50 per cent fit, she would win. So there.
Two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Zhang Shuai left the court prematurely during her singles match with Amarissa Toth at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. The Chinese challenged a call that her ball had landed out at 5-5. However, before the umpire had the chance to check the clay for evidence, home favourite Toth walked over to the mark and rubbed it away with her foot.
Zhang was booed by the Budapest crowd and at 6-5 down, she left the court in tears after retiring from the match as her opponent celebrated. Zhang even had the decency to shake her opponent’s hand. Toth later apologised, which was a bit rich and a bit late.
Rosol made a name for himself after beating Rafael Nadal in five sets at Wimbledon in 2012 and tried but failed to repeat the trick in 2014. During the second match, the Czech was seen knocking over one of the Spaniard’s water bottles after a changeover to try and disrupt the meticulous mannerisms of the Mallorca man.
Rosol took this further at the Basle Open the following year when he kept making noises while receiving Nadal’s serves. Rafa complained: “He’s been doing it on every point.” Nadal still won, though.
When Andy Murray was dumped out of the 2021 US Open by Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-set epic, he accused his Greek rival of cheating after his constant bathroom breaks.
On social media afterwards, Murray sarcastically claimed that it took his opponent twice as long to go to the convenience than it did for Jeff Bezos to fly into space.
“I feel it influenced the outcome of the match”, barked the Scot. “I don’t think I broke any rules. I played by the guidelines, how everything is,” claimed Saint Stefanos.
The 2023 US Open champion started her journey at Flushing Meadows with a tetchy win over Laura Siegemund. Gauff complained to the umpire that her opponent sat down at a changeover and was using every trick to play slow. Siegemund suggested Coco was too fast.
“She’s never ready when I’m serving – how is this fair?”,” stormed Gauff. After her three-set victory, the American teenager said she felt the rules were being bent. Apparently, even the Obamas agreed. The German burst into tears at the press conference.
The 2022 Italian Open last-16 encounter between Djokovic and Norrie was testy to say the least with both players accusing each other of manipulating the rules. Norrie launched a smash that hit the Serb’s legs. Djokovic had turned his back and already given up on the point but was not amused by that or the Briton’s constant roaring and fist-pumping to celebrate points.
The 24-time major winner accused Norrie of stretching everything legal, including a medical timeout a game before the end. Norrie hit back, suggesting the No 1 seed took overtime on the physio bed and that he was almost a quarter of an hour late for the walk-on. When Djokovic served it out, his handshake was frostier than the Antarctic.
Naomi Osaka’s maiden singles major win came at the 2018 US Open against her tennis heroine, Serena Williams. Unfortunately, Williams dominated the headlines after she was docked a point and then a game for an extraordinary outburst directed at umpire Carlos Ramos
Ramos gave the 23-time Grand Slam champion a code violation for what he interpreted as an advisory gesture from the American’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou. Williams told Ramos that she would rather lose than cheat to win and then the air turned blue… Mouratoglou himself later admitted that he was guilty but claimed that every coach did it, including Osaka’s. “I was coaching but I don’t think she looked at me,” the Frenchman insisted.
