French Open star blasted for ‘disrespecting’ female umpire with bizarre request

French Open star Hubert Hurkacz has been blasted for ‘disrespecting’ female umpire Alison Hughes with a bizarre request against Grigor Dimitrov.

Dimitrov recorded an impressive 7-6 6-4 7-6 victory over eighth-seed Hurkacz to reach the Roland-Garros quarter-finals for the first time at the age of 33.

But the fourth-round battle on Court Suzanne Lenglen was overshadowed by a strange incident as Hurkacz tried to get Dimitrov to help him change umpires.

‘You wanna continue?’ Hurkacz said to Dimitrov during a change of ends in the third set after the Polish star was infuriated by a decision going against him.

‘You wanna continue with the lady here or you wanna change?’ Hurkacz added, clearly irked as he edged towards French Open elimination.

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‘Change what?’ Dimitrov awkwardly responded as Hurkacz hit back: ‘Change the umpire!’

Tennis fans have slammed Hurkacz on social media as @LoliLondon posted on X: ‘The whole conversation is weird [and] highly disrespectful towards Alison Hughes, who is one of the most experienced tennis umpires.

‘I never EVER expected this from Hubi, who in general is such a likeable character.

‘We never know what to expect [from] quiet people. Grigor is such a gentleman, calmed down the whole situation and moved on.

‘This incident is highly disappointing. Grigor called the ball out, Alison confirmed it was out, TV cameras confirmed the ball was out.

‘What exactly was your problem? Losing the match? I hope you issue an apology to Alison asap, it is not OK what you did, highly disrespectful tbh.’

Hurkacz attempted to play down the incident in his post-match press conference and said: ‘[I was] just asking Grigor if he would like to make the change. If not, then we’re perfectly fine.

‘[It is] all good. It’s clay court, so it’s sometimes difficult when the balls are really close to make, yeah, just it’s really close from time to time. Definitely some of the calls you wish they are different way, but it’s just the way it is, and you gotta accept the things.’