MADRID — In a surprising turn of events during the Madrid Open, top-seeded Alexander Zverev found himself at odds with the umpire after snapping a photo of a ball mark. This incident occurred as he raised concerns over the electronic line-calling system.
The German star voiced his frustration to umpire Mohamed Lahyani, claiming that there was a “malfunction” when a backhand from local favorite Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was deemed in, despite Zverev’s belief that the ball had sailed wide during their gripping third-round encounter.
After overcoming a challenging match with a score of 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), Zverev took to Instagram to share the photo, writing, “Just gonna leave this one here. This was called in. Interesting call,” accompanied by two pondering emojis.
