Australian Open 2023: Alison Riske-Amritraj freaks out and apes chair umpire Nico Helwerth

It was a tricky moment. Alison Riske-Amritraj volleyed at the net, hit opponent Alexandra Panova in the body – from there the ball bounced back over the net. The American then shouted “Sorry” to her opponent.

Nico Helwerth interpreted this as a “hindrance”, as a handicap, because in his opinion the rally was not over yet.

“Due to the disruption caused by Mrs. Riske-Amritraj, the point goes to Dzalamidze/Panova,” explained the chair umpire. “That’s the rule. She said ‘sorry’ while the ball was in play. I know she doesn’t do it on purpose, but that’s not the point.”

Only: If the ball in tennis touched the body, as was apparently the case in this scene, the rally ends at exactly that moment. Means: The “Sorry” would not have been a handicap, the point should have been awarded to Riske-Amritraj and her partner Linda Fruhvirtova.

Riske-Amritraj rages: “What the hell is he doing?”

Riske-Amritraj followed this point of view – and started ranting like a sparrow.

“What the hell is he doing up there? That’s f****** ridiculous. Is he sleeping?” Etched the 32-year-old. Riske-Amritraj also called in the supervisor, who tried to smooth things over.

“He saw it differently,” she explained. However, Riske-Amritraj was not reassured by this. Number 49 in the double world rankings aped Helwerth instead. “I’m sure you saw it that way, but this is absolutely ridiculous!” Shortly thereafter, the game could then – finally – be continued.

Riske-Amritraj: Referee apologized

Riske-Amritraj later wrote on Twitter that Helwerth had spoken to her. “The referee later apologized for his wrong decision, which I accepted. Bad sportsmanship and cheating happen all the time, especially at youth level. Parents/players invest too much time, money and mental energy in this experience.”

The future of tennis is “very close to her heart. If you are working on a compelling solution for line calling or VAR technology and need help with funding/scaling, please email me,” Riske-Amritraj continued .

In the end, the 32-year-old probably also soothed the result. Riske-Amritraj and Fruhvirtova prevailed 6:7 (4:7), 6:4, 7:5 and reached the 2nd round. There, however, the Czechs Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, who were seeded in first place, came to the end (2: 6, 2: 6).