Nicolas Jarry questioned if Cameron Norrie was breaking the ‘rules’ during his defeat to the British tennis star at Wimbledon.
Norrie continued his impressive run at the All England Club with a hard-fought 6-3 7-6 6-7 6-7 6-3 win over Jerry on Court One.
The victory sent Norrie into the quarter-finals of his home Grand Slam, where he will meet either Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz or Andrey Rublev.
Norrie won the opening set relatively comfortably before going 2-0 up courtesy of a tie-break.
After going two sets behind, Chile’s number one complained to the chair umpire about the time Norrie was taken between first and second serves.
‘So what is the rule?’ a frustrated Jarry asked as Norrie went off court for a comfort break. ‘It is your interpretation?
‘The problem is, is it normal to do that when it affects the other player? Do you need to interfere or do I need to suck it up?
‘He can stop doing it, it’s not a nervous tick. It’s something he can control. I have to play with something that affects me.
‘It can be changed, it’s not something that cannot be changed. I just want to play by the rules because it affects me.’
Hearing Jarry’s complaints, BBC commentator John Lloyd said: ‘I think it’s the bouncing of the ball on the second serve. I might be wrong but that’s what it appears to be.
‘This is unusual actually. It is a lot of bouncing with the second serves but I don’t think there is a rule for it.’
As Lloyd pointed out, there is a timer that players have to meet between points ahead of their first serve but it disappears for the second.
Umpires are permitted to hand out time violation warnings but it is rarely seen.
Former British number one Tim Henman said: ‘You play to the server’s rhythm. Cameron Norrie will not be bothered will he?
‘It’s normally detrimental to the server rather than the receiver. Jarry has been fairly rational about it to be fair to him which isn’t always the case with players.’
At a later point in the match, after Norrie bounced the ball 22 times between serves, Henman added: ‘That was 22 bounces with the racket… that is unusual.
‘I don’t see it doing him any favours. It looked like he upset his own rhythm with that one.’
Lloyd agreed, saying: ‘This is too much. I don’t get it.’
Jarry, 29, won three qualifying matches just to enter the main draw at Wimbledon and came back from two sets down in his opening match.
He won tie-breaks in the third and fourth sets against Norrie to force a decider but the Brit finished stronger to advance to the quarter-finals.
The pair had a tense handshake after the match, leading to boos from the crowd, but appeared to leave the court on good terms.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
