Rafael Jódar reaches the quarter-finals in Shanghai. He receives a warning from the chair umpire for snapping at a ball boy.
Rafael Jódar reached the quarter-finals at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai with a hard-fought three-set victory over Botic van de Zandschulp – though he briefly lost his temper during the match.
The Spaniard turned the match around after losing the tie-break and prevailed 6–7 (4–7), 6–4, 6–2 after two and a half hours. It was already his third comeback in a row in the tournament.
Jódar caused a stir at the start of the second set. With the score at 40–40 on the Dutchman’s serve, he suddenly shouted at a ball boy: “Give me that bloody towel, for God’s sake!” The Ecuadorian chair umpire, Jimmy Pinoargote, subsequently issued him with a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Jódar receives a warning: “That’s not how we speak to one another”
Jódar then sought to argue with the umpire: “You know how tense it is out there. He’s not responding; I’m talking to him and I didn’t say anything bad.”
Pinoargote stood by his decision and explained: “I understand the tension, but not like that. Ask me, and I’ll ask him. I can’t repeat it, but you know what you said. That’s not how we speak to one another.”
