Jaume Munar faced criticism for ‘picking on’ a ball boy during his Wimbledon defeat to Marin Cilic.
The Spanish tennis star was hoping to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career but was beaten in four sets by Cilic.
Munar was a set and a break down in the fourth when he failed to convert a break point against the big-serving Croatian.
A couple of points later, Cilic forced his opponent deep into the corner of the court when Munar hit a lob before bumping into a ball boy.
After the ball went long, handing Cilic the game, Munar gestured to the ball boy and then approached the chair umpire to make a complaint.
As he approached umpire Mohamed Lahyani, Munar was heard saying: ‘He [the ball boy] cannot move? I hit him with the racket and he stays there?’
The experienced Lahyani replied: ‘If he was in his position, there’s nothing I can do.’
Munar then said: ‘He cannot move? So if I’m running and I hit him, I just hit him? That’s it? No let, nothing? I just destroy him and that’s it? I hit him with the racket.’
The world number 55 continued to vent at the next changeover, saying: ‘The rule book is from 2019-20, no? When everyone was playing volleys here.
‘He cannot do one step to the left? It doesn’t make sense. Can you explain that to me?’
But Munar’s complaints fell on deaf ears and Cilic soon claimed the set to book his place in the fourth round of Wimbledon.
Lahyani later explained that a let could only have been called if the ball boy moved from his position and directly affected the point.
The commentators were initially confused by Munar’s angry reaction and thought he was just trying to throw Cilic off his rhythm.
‘He’s venting, he’s frustrated, maybe he’s trying to cause some kind of distraction to Cilic to take him out of his focus,’ one of the BBC pundits said. ‘That’s been done before, tactically be players.’
But after seeing a replay and hearing Munar’s complaints they realised the issue, though they were not sympathetic to the Spanish number five.
‘I mean, where’s the ball boy supposed to stand?’ one of them said.
‘We can heard Munar explaining what he wanted to happen, for the ball boy to move to the left in that situation. But that puts him in a very difficult situation.’
Another said: ‘I’m not sure it even affected his shot anyway.’
Clashing with ball boys or girls rarely ends well and several players over the years have been widely criticised for their conduct towards them.
At Wimbledon, ball boys and girls are usually around 15 years old and selected from local schools. They will have trained for around six months before the start of the Championships.
A number of fans criticised Munar on social media, with one posting on X: ‘He’s picking on a ball boy, saying the kid interfered with his shot despite being nowhere near it.’
Another said: ‘What is it with these prima donnas in tennis lately? The guy is complaining about a ball boy up against a wall that was nowhere near the ball.’
While Munar heads home, former US Open champion and three-time Grand Slam finalist Cilic advances to the fourth round, where he will meet Flavio Cobolli.
Cilic turns 37 in September but is enjoying a fine run at Wimbledon and knocked out British number one Jack Draper in his previous game.
‘I’m feeling good on the court,’ he said after the victory over Munar. ‘You know, I don’t know if I can win another Grand Slam.
‘But I’m working on it day after day and giving myself a chance and playing every match as the best I can.
‘You never know what’s coming in the next match but I’m going to do the best I can and hopefully I can raise games to even high levels.’
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