Reilly Opelka has called for chair umpire Greg Allensworth to be suspended by the ATP after he received a code violation at the Dallas Open for confronting a spectator in the stands who he claimed was deliberately coughing to interrupt his serve.
Opelka, who was facing Cameron Norrie, was serving for the match in the last-16 when he stopped mid-serve at 30-30 to talk to a fan, asking him if he was coughing on purpose while also asking him to leave in an expletive-laden outburst.
Allensworth announced a code violation and then a point penalty for two audible obscenities after Opelka approached the chair and argued his case.
According to the ATP rulebook, a first offence leads to a warning while a second leads to a point penalty.
Opelka eventually won the match after an argument with Allensworth and said he was the "worst ref on the ATP" and that he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.
"He's real bad. He almost changed the outcome of that match just because he doesn't really know what he's doing. He got emotional when we were arguing," Opelka said after his 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 victory over Norrie.
"He got very tense and frantic, he couldn't give me an answer. He didn't tell that guy to shut up, he was doing it for three points. He didn't do his job, so I had to tell him, 'Get out of here'. The guy was being pretty quite rude.
"It shouldn't be one-sided traffic. If you want to be disrespectful to me, I can't just be a punching bag. If the ref isn't doing his job, then he penalizes me - not a good look."
Opelka added that he hoped the ATP would penalize Allensworth as he almost cost the big-serving American a spot in the quarter-finals. Opelka is also set to be fined $5,000 for each violation.
"It would be nice to maybe sideline him for a few tournaments," added Opelka, who meets third seed Tommy Paul in the next round.
"He gets no penalty. If I lose that point, I lose that match. There's a difference in my paycheck, he gets no repercussions.
"He should be on the sideline for about four weeks, maybe learn a thing or two... You've got to understand the situation. You can't always play by the rulebook. It's just common sense."
The ATP said that Opelka violated the rules by confronting a member of the public and that it will evaluate his comments as part of a review that could lead to further sanctions.
"Audible obscenities directed at members of the public constitute a clear violation of ATP rules," an ATP spokesperson told Reuters.
"In such instances, the chair umpire has a responsibility to take appropriate action, regardless of the match score. The ATP will review Mr. Opelka's post-match comments as part of its standard disciplinary process."
