Krejcikova has had it with the windy conditions today
There were dramatic scenes yesterday at the Cincinnati Open as Barbora Krejcikova argued with the chair umpire about the windy conditions during her first-round clash with Victoria Azarenka.
Eleventh seed Krejcikova took on two-time champion of the Western & Southern Open Azarenka in the first round of the WTA 1000 event. After the latter won the first set, the Czech player was able to build up a 5-2 lead in the second, but Azarenka fought her way back to win the match 6-3, 7-5.
However, the match was made more difficult by strong gusts of wind affecting the players' ability to serve. The windy conditions affected others across the tournament, with Taylor Fritz saying the conditions at the Cincinnati Open are some of the worst he's played in.
The conditions yesterday were clearly getting to players in several ways, and nowhere was this more evident than in the Krejcikova-Azarenka clash, when the 27-year-old got into an argument with the chair umpire over her capacity to serve through the strong gusts of wind they were experiencing during the match.
The umpire had reprimanded Krejcikova for not even attempting to serve during the 25-second window, to which the former world No. 2 replied by arguing that the conditions were too windy for her to try and serve at that time. The umpire then pointed out that she had succeeded at previous attempts.
"But so many times you succeeded in tossing it and playing the point," they said.
"But it was windy. The wind was really blowing hard that's why I stopped. I'm not stopping all the time but I felt it was too windy for me to actually be able to toss it," Krejcikova replied.
The umpire agreed that the conditions were challenging, but also said that it was imperative for the player to adhere to the time windows given.
"That's what I said but 30 seconds, at least you try. It's 30 seconds Barbora," they said.
At this point, the tense moment met some relief, as the both umpire and player started smiling and laughing despite continuing the dispute.
"I appreciate that you girls are trying even though it's windy but standing 15 seconds and not even trying, it's a lot of time you know what I mean," the umpire added.
"I was waiting for the wind to stop blowing," Krejcikova re-iterated.
In response to this, the chair umpire merely stated "It's not going to stop."
Krejcikova has had it with the windy conditions today