A very odd situation happened at the Tenerife 2 Challenger as the umpire urged players not to scream which caught a lot of controversy in tennis fans' circles.
It was a match between Argentine player Rodriguez Taverna and Italian player Roberto Marcora with the umpire interrupting the match to ask the Argentine not to scream after winning points. The reason the umpire stated was it being 'unprofessional'. The Argentine heavily protested against the ask explaining that there is no rule from saying he couldn't do it.
Marcora added that he didn't have any problems with it either however the umpire was clearly irritated by the behaviour. It didn't sit well with tennis fans on social media. Tennis journalist Jose Morgado initially posted the situation adding a remark:
"What the f...? Who is this umpire?"
The reactions to the video were:
"What a clown that referee is , it was a typical challenger point."
"But Marcora says it has no problem neither, he says that Taverna can scream whenever he wants. Btw I’m agree with Taverna, he is playing to win money, I don’t see problem on being happy because of points you won (sic)."
"Taverna said that they are playing for money and also for the ranking so, they should be able to celebrate each point."
"Umpire stopped play to threaten Taverna to give him a warning if he kept shouting after every point he wins, which is ridiculous. Even Marcora said he didn't mind when the umpire said it was bad sportsmanship. That umpire should get suspended."
What the f...? Who is this umpire? 🤣
Tenerife 2 Ch R2: In *0-3 15-0 to 15-15, there was sth from the umpire to Marcora right after he got run over (I need help from Spanish-speaking moots for this?). Was that on he only won 8 pts? Rodriguez Taverna broke then held 5-0. 🎥 @ATPChallenger pic.x.com/pSlahpAp2l
