Tempers flared during Saturday’s Davis Cup tie between Brazil and France as Arthur Fils secured a 6-1 6-4 victory against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
But ugly scenes descended on the match with Seyboth Wild expressing his fury towards Fils at the end of the match.
It came after Fils had been accused of showing a lack of sportsmanship to his opponent following a point late on in the match.
With Fils clinching the first set, Seyboth Wild pulled things back in the second set to take his French opponent to 4-4.
But Fils would secure a break against his opponent, bringing the Brazilian to the net before sweeping a driven ground stroke past him and out beyond the baseline.
On first inspection it seemed like the ball had not made contact with Seyboth Wild but the chair umpire deemed that the Brazilian had touched the ball, awarding Fils the point and the break.
Arthur Fils (left) and Thiago Seyboth Wild (rigth) clashed during their Davis Cup clash on Saturday
Seyboth Wild fumed at Fils after a controversial moment in which the chair umpire claimed the Brazilian had touched the ball with his racket but claimed he hadn’t, asking Fils to correct the umpire
Seyboth Wild, 24, would subsequently vent his frustration towards the chair umpire, claiming that he had not made contact with the tennis ball.
He also remonstrated with Fils. The Frenchman, though, was not interested in arguing with him or replaying the point, instead pointing to the chair umpire claiming that the umpire had made the call.
Wild’s coach was then also seen remonstrating with the chair umpire and was heard saying: ‘That’s a big mistake. It wasn’t even close. It wasn’t even close. It’s the wrong decision.’
He continued to argue that, ‘it wasn’t even close,’ before the chair umpire called time.
And that wasn’t the end of the spat, with Fils subsequently becoming irate and fuming at the umpire after Wild had challenged the Frenchman’s serve before the Brazilian went on to win a point and subsequently appeared to deny that he had called the challenge.
Fils would ultimately win the match but the pair would share a very aggressive handshake with Wild remonstrating at his opponent appearing to be infuriated over the moment earlier in the match.
He was seen pulling the Frenchman’s arm in before going to sit on his bench. Fils was seen arguing with the Brazil coach, before confronting his 24-year-old opponent, sharing some choice words as Wild attempted to leave the court.
Fils has since spoken out on the matter, stating: ‘At the end, it was a bit hot, that’s true.’
They exchanged an aggressive handshake with Seyboth Wild pulling Fils arm away from him
The spat didn’t stop there, with Fils confronting Seyboth Wild after the game, pointing his finger at the Brazilian
Seyboth Wild and his coach pleaded with the chair umpire at some of the decisions made during the match
Some fans took to social media to criticise both players following the bizarre moment
‘I think he didn’t touch the ball on the point that gave me 5-4, which is a fact of play that puts him at a disadvantage.
‘But that’s the way it is. I think if it had gone the other way, he wouldn’t have given me the point either. There’s no problem between him and me. We explained ourselves afterwards.’
The players were subsequently criticised by some on social media.
‘Arthur Fils has some serious attitude issues and needs to learn some respect He is constantly entwined in this sort of drama, he looks lacking in social skills total dear in headlights, he needs to wake tf up and show some respect,’ one wrote.
Another added: ‘Shame on FILS. He was playing better. He would probably win anyway. He didn’t need to be quiet to plenty of unfair/wrong calls….’
‘Rules are Rules… unless you are Arthur Fils.
‘Unfortunately another example in his short career of awful sportsmanship.
‘The umpire makes a mistake. The ball CLEARLY doesn’t touch Wild and Fils takes the break.
‘Unfortunately when you are establishment backed you can do what you want.’
Even Aussie tennis star Destanee Aiava commented on the clip, writing: ‘If someone did this to meeeeeee’ while adding a skull emoji.
