The Australian Open is rolling into the second round in Melbourne and Wednesday featured some interesting matches as well as some explosive theatrics.
Polish star Jerzy Janowicz went "nuts" on an official during his second round match against India's Somdev Devvarman after disagreeing with a call.
The 24th-seeded Janowicz and Devvarman battled through a tough first set that lasted nearly 80 minutes and went to a tiebreaker. With set point on the board at 9-8, Devvarman hit a deep forehand as Janowicz lurked behind the baseline. Janowicz thought the ball went long, but he did the chair umpire, Marija Cicak, thought it was good.
Janowicz was listening for the call and when he did not get it, he yelled out "How many times? How many times?" before dropping to his knees on the court and spitting on the line. "I'm begging you!" he screamed at Cicak.
"I was just worried about his voice," Devvarman said to the Associated Press. "I mean, the guy was yelling at the top of his lungs and I was like, 'Dude, just calm down.'"
Janowicz continued to go after the chair umpire and received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. Janowicz clearly was affected by the outburst and lost the tiebreaker 12-10 and the next set 6-3. But he settled down soon after and allowed Devvarman only one game over the next two sets, prevailing 7-5 in a tight fifth.
"You can't control your emotions all the time," he said in a much better mood after the match. "Actually, I went nuts. I calmed down little bit later on. Sometimes I have problem to control by emotions, but I'm trying to work on this."
International Tennis Federation officials said they will review the umpire's reports of the incident to see if a fine of punishment is necessary.
Janowicz said he should be in the clear of any issues: "I didn't say anything bad, so I hope I not have to pay."
ESPN analyst Darren Cahill said after the match that Janowicz can move past the outburst and said forgiveness is in order for the youngster.
"I cut him a lot of slack because of what he's gone through to get to this point,'' Cahill said of Janowicz to ESPN.com.
Last year Janowicz could not get the money together to travel to Melbourne and had to give up his slot in the qualifying tournament. During the season Janowicz worked hard at his game and broke through by reaching the final of the Paris Masters tournament as a qualifier and defeating five top-20 players. He became the first unseeded man to make the final at the Paris Masters in nearly a decade and was ranked in the top 30 for the first time in his career.
The outburst went viral on YouTube and gave Janowicz some extra attention as he advances in the tournament.
"He's 22, but really in a way he's more like 18; he's just broken through,'' Cahill said. "He's going to make some mistakes. What's important is how you react to it.''
Janowicz explained his actions in the press conference after the match and said that he still felt the ball "was clean out."
"Sometimes I have problem to control my emotions, but I'm trying to work on this. & I was all the time trying to be focused. I was all the time telling myself to fight for every single ball. And somehow I just relaxed. I have no explanation why," he said.
Janowicz's emotions likely cause him to hit 88 unforced errors in the match, but he eventually won 6-7, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5, and will face off against Spanish 10th seed Nicolas Almagro in the third round.
Last year Janowicz made it to the finals in the Paris Masters, losing to David Ferrer, and went 14-4 in singles matches. He had a poor showing at the U.S. Open after losing to Dennis Novikov 2-6, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 3-6, in the first round, but he is expecting to do much better this time around. The outburst was the main story, but Janowicz has shown he has a great deal of potential and is a player to watch on the tour.
With Rafael Nadal missing the tournament due to illness, there is an opening at the top behind Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. Janowicz will have a tough time with Almagro, who cruised through the second round over Daniel Gimeno-Traver in straight sets. He had a five set match in the first round against Steve Johnson, but looked much better in the following round.
