"Didn't mean to offend anyone" - Khachanov apologizes to the referee
Karen Khachanov has apologized after his emotional quarter-final match in Antwerp.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Oct 24, 2020, 10:42 am
At 6: 3, 6: 7 (7), 4: 6, Khachanov had his arguments with referee Adel Nour for almost the entire match. Already at 4: 2 in the first set, the referee saw a forehand by Khachanov a hand's breadth - which, as the TV repeat showed, was clearly in the field. "You know what, we'll have a look at it later," Khachnanov grumbled.
Also at 3: 2 in round two, after a tight forehand from Evans, Khachanov grumbled: "Are you looking into the audience, or what? Why aren't you looking closely?" When Khachanov made it 4-2, Evans was again dissatisfied. "We don't have a hawk-eye here," says Nour.
Khachanov finally got the match point at 6-5 in the tie-break, but Evans parried with a strong serve. At 7: 7 Khachanov gave his fist after a supposed forehand by Evans, but the linesman gave the ball well and Khachanov freaked out again. "You don't even need to be here, that's a joke," he rumbled . After Evans had served the sentence, Khachanov processed the advertising sign on the net with a proper kick and Nour's referee chair, like Karolina Pliskova once did, with his racket. When he left the place directly (without permission), to the displeasure of Nour, he declared: "Don't talk to me anymore. I don't want to hear anything more from you."
Khachanov apologizes: "Are all just people"
In the meantime, the world number 17 has apologized. He said on Instagram that he spoke to Nour. "He was really sorry and apologized for the mistakes. And I apologized for my rude behavior. At the end of the day we are all human and make mistakes." He didn't want to offend anyone and behave like that, "I just couldn't control my temperament in these critical situations."
The semifinals of the 250 tournament in Antwerp are now contested by Evans against Ugo Humbert as well as Alex de Minaus and Grigor Dimitrov.