Reilly Opelka targets umpire after being penalized for confronting a heckler

Tennis player Reilly Opelka has demanded that the ATP suspend chair umpire Greg Allensworth following a code violation he received at the Dallas Open. The umpire issued the code violation after Opelka confronted a spectator in the crowd, who he alleged was purposely coughing to distract him.

During his last-16 match against Cameron Norrie, Opelka halted his serve at 30-30 to confront a spectator he accused of disrupting his game. He angrily ordered the person to leave, using expletives in his outburst. 

Opelka then exchanged words with Allensworth, who issued a code violation and then imposed a point penalty for two audible profanities. 

Opelka to Allensworth: Worst referee on the ATP 

After the incident, Opelka went on to win the match. He then described Allensworth as the “worst ref on the ATP”.

The athlete said: “He’s real bad. He almost changed the outcome of that match just because he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. He got emotional when we were arguing.

“He got very tense and frantic, he couldn’t give me an answer. He didn’t tell that guy to shut up, he was doing it for three points. He didn’t do his job, so I had to tell him, ‘Get out of here.’ The guy was being pretty quite rude.

“It shouldn’t be one-sided traffic. If you want to be disrespectful to me, I can’t just be a punching bag. If the ref isn’t doing his job, then he penalises me – not a good look,” he added. 

Opelka hoped the ATP would take disciplinary actions against Allensworth, as he believed that the umpire nearly cost him a spot in the quarter-finals. The incident also cost him money, Opelka has to pay a $5,000 fine for each of the violations he received during the match.

“It would be nice to maybe sideline him for a few tournaments,”  Opelka said about Allensworth. “He gets no penalty. If I lose that point, I lose that match. There’s a difference in my paycheck, he gets no repercussions…. He should be on the sideline for about four weeks, maybe learn a thing or two… You’ve got to understand the situation. You can’t always play by the rulebook. It’s just common sense.”