Beaten in 4h08 (7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7, 6-3) by Frances Tiafoe suffering from vomiting during the first round of the Australian Open, the Frenchman believes that the man on the perch was very accommodating with the American, who was able to recover from the experience. Very hard to swallow.
The scene is rare: start of the twelfth game of the fourth set. While Arthur Rinderknech, trailing two sets to one, prepares to serve at 5-6, Frances Tiafoe releases a small vomito from the baseline. A few seconds later, he dumps the rest into a trash can. The discomfort is obvious. He is struggling to recover. In bad shape, he resumes the game but cannot prevent the Frenchman from getting back to two sets everywhere.
The feat is then in sight for the adopted Breton, 61st in the world. “I tell myself that I must continue to play physical, confided Arthur Rinderknech. But I am affected too. From the start of the fourth set, I have the beginnings of cramps. He knew how to use his experience, the referee “He let it play which is difficult to accept. In my opinion, this fifth set is quite scandalous on the part of the referee but it’s part of the game…”
What does Arthur Rinderknech imply? Quite simply that Frances Tiafoe was able to redo the cherry by somewhat abusing the referee Alessando Germani. Not the slightest warning even though he regularly exceeded the allotted time, whether between points or during changes of ends.
“He’s a guy who has been in the Top 20 for years and who has made the semi-finals of Grand Slams,” says the Frenchman. “He sabotaged the fifth and the referee left him. Today, for me, he had a clear advantage in the fifth set. Would I lose the match because of that? Surely it would have been fairer if we had been refereed more fairly? yes… But when the referee puts pressure on me in the first set for a one-second overrun while we did inter-points of one minute and fifteen minutes repeatedly in the fifth set, there is inconsistency in refereeing and it annoys me.”
Helped occasionally by… Jérémy Chardy
The Italian referee was not spared but Arthur Rinderknech was kicked out of the tournament. He suffered a twelfth defeat in a row against a member of the Top 20 and he is dwelling on his marathon loss last summer at the US Open against Andrey Rublev. A meeting during which he had come close to feeling unwell due to a frightening heat-humidity cocktail.
Arthur Rinderknech is not the type to give up. He is constantly looking for solutions. Moreover, in his box, we noted the presence of Jérémy Chardy, Ugo Humbert’s coach. “And he will give me a hand occasionally this year,” he informs.
