American tennis star Sofia Kenin fumed at the match officials and attempted to get her Italian Open match cancelled due to a dispute about the playing conditions. The 2020 Australian Open champion defeated Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 6-2 but frustrations boiled over in Rome.
Kenin ended a nine-match losing streak but during the first set of her match with the home favourite, rain started to pour. With the clay conditions becoming slippery, the 25-year-old felt that it was dangerous to continue and began arguing with the chair umpire.
However, Kenin was informed that she should continue as the supervisor felt that the surface was safe to play. That was not the news that world No. 42 was expecting though and she continued to berate the umpire.
At one point she even took the towel off of her shoulders, slammed it on the chair and shouted “f****** dumb***” before walking back to court to continue the match against her wishes.
The Foro Italico spectators quickly turned on Kenin, having already pledged their support to Bronzetti, as they started to boo her opponent when the match resumed. After winning a point on the world No. 54’s serve, Kenin swiftly turned to the crowd and shouted: “F*** you!”
Kenin, searching for her first title since the 2020 Lyon Open, will have felt vindicated as the match was suspended in the same set due to rain. Once the weather had improved in Rome, she eased to a straight-sets victory to set up a second-round clash with Ons Jabeur.
Kenin could face a third-round tie with Brit Katie Boulter if she can get past Jabeur. The Tunisian will likely be the favourite for the clash, but Kenin has beaten the back-to-back Wimbledon runner-up in five out of their seven meetings and will feel confident after snapping her losing streak.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Rome crowd will continue to jeer the American, having been well-known as a notorious atmosphere for players. Andy Murray found himself on the wrong side of the spectators last year, having gotten into a similar argument with the chair umpire during his match with another Italian fan favourite Fabio Fognini.
Murray lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in his opening match and was unhappy when the official called a ball in when it was out, resulting in rounding boos for the Scot.
“Stadium full of Italians booing and whistling, thinking I’m trying to cheat Fabio out of point,” he later wrote on Instagram. “All because Mo [umpire Mohamed Lahyani] couldn’t read a mark properly. Cheers mate.”
