MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Match officials stepped in to calm the players in a men’s doubles match at the Australian Open who started arguing on the court.
Spain’s Feliciano Lopez accused India’s Leander Paes of trying to provoke him and his partner Juan Monaco of Argentina during their second-round match. Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won 7-6 (2), 6-4 on Saturday.
Television footage showed all four players grouped together at the net, arguing and gesticulating with their hands. Officials came over and calmed things down and Lopez said later there was no lingering problem.
Lopez said the Paes “was trying to provoke us all the time. At one point, we were a little bit tired of the style he was using on the court, and that’s all that happened.”
Tournament officials did not immediately comment.
