Mikael Ymer damages umpire chair, DQ’d for outburst in Lyon

LYON, France — Swedish tennis player Mikael Ymer was disqualified after slamming his racket into the umpire’s chair during a match at the Lyon Open on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old was upset that the umpire refused to check a line call in the 11th game of the first set of his second-round match against Arthur Fils.

Ymer thought the ball went wide and pleaded for the umpire to check.

“You saw it clearly bounce on the line, then show me the mark on the line,” 53rd-ranked Ymer said. “I’ve never witnessed that a ref says ‘I’m not going to go down and check the mark.’ It doesn’t happen.”

After that, Fils broke Ymer with a cross-court backhand to take a 6-5 lead.

Ymer then twice slammed his racket into the bottom of the umpire’s chair, leaving the stand damaged and his racket in tatters. He was then defaulted.