Tuesday 5 July 2016 07:20, UK
Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers staged a sit-down protest against the umpire during a bad-tempered doubles defeat at Wimbledon on Monday.
Uruguay's Cuevas and Spaniard Granollers lost 6-3 4-6 6-4 3-6 14-12 to Britain's Jonathan Marray and Canadian Adil Shamasdin but the match was overshadowed by anger vented at French umpire Aurelie Tourte.
Cuevas and Granollers sat down and refused to play in the final game on Court Seven after Tourte handed the pair a second code violation and one-point penalty to give Marray and Shamasdin three match points.
The punishment came after Cuevas hit the ball out of the court in frustration, having started the game with two double faults.
The match referee had to be called and around 10 minutes later play resumed, with Marray and Shamasdin winning their second match point to progress to the fourth round.
The contest had been tense throughout, starting with some questionable early line calls, before matters came to a head at 9-8 in the final set when Cuevas was refused permission to take a toilet break.
His reaction earned him a first code violation for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
"It was during a changeover," said Marray. "Something to do with a can, something to do with bathroom breaks. I don't know what happened.
"I went to the bathroom twice during the match and obviously the fifth set was a long one. I think you should be allowed an extra toilet break if it's five sets."
Marray and Shamasdin were made to wait on court while their opponents protested and umpire Tourte began announcing a third code violation before the supervisor intervened.
You have to respect the officials, regardless of whatever happened in the match.
"I don't think it's ever nice to see," Marray said of Cuevas and Granollers' behaviour. "You have to respect the officials regardless of whatever happened in the match.
"You can have a word or two but they're trying to do a job and you have to respect that. You have to take some bad calls on the chin at some point and get on with playing the game.
Shamasdin believed Tourte could have handled the situation better.
"I don't think the chair umpire really had the match controlled," he said.
"She made a few mistakes early on at both ends. We were all on her and she was definitely flustered. I don't think she handled it correctly."
Marray and Shamasdin, who were given wildcards to enter the tournament, will now face Treat Huey of the Philippines and Belarusian Max Mirnyi in the quarter-finals.
