Caroline Wozniacki blasts umpire in loss
Replays showed Caroline Wozniacki was correct in challenging a call, but she was displeased with the umpire calling the ball in. (Zumapress)
During her third round match against Kaia Kanepi on Saturday, No. 9 seed Caroline Wozniacki stopped during a rally at 1-1 in the second set and circled the ball mark believing it was out. The umpire, Poncho Ayala, came down to inspect the mark and disagreed, saying the ball had just clipped the line.
"The ball is clearly out," she ranted at Ayala. "You cannot just sit there and be so arrogant. How can you see this ball as in when the ball is like this out? It's not touching the line. If we had Hawk-Eye you'd be so frickin' embarrassed right now. So embarrassed. Especially because you can see the mark. Have you been to school? Can I ask you? Have you gone to school?"
Aw, burn! I don't know if the chair umpire went to school -- or if he enrolled in "How to Look at Objects 101" -- but I suspect Wozniacki might have gone to Andy Roddick's School of Umpire Abuse, where you learn to master the "When in doubt, call the umpire stupid" move. The Dane eventually called for the supervisor (possibly after being told to by her box) who attempted to placate her, but the call stood. Television replays using Hawk-Eye showed the ball was six millimeters out. Then again, the reason Hawk-Eye isn't used on clay is because it's unreliable. Wozniacki went on to lose the match 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 and just like the last time she felt she was robbed by an umpire call in Miami earlier this year, she continued to voice her discontent after the match.
