Melbourne: Alexander Zverev got bothered by a bird's feather at the Australian Open and was warned for cursing during his quarterfinal against Tommy Paul.
The second-seeded Zverev was down a break in the second set — a set he went on to win — when Paul saved two break points. With the game in the balance, chair umpire Nacho Forcadell called a let and ordered a replay of a point when he saw a white feather drop into Zverev’s eyeline as the German player was in his backswing.
“What? A feather? There’s millions of them on the court,” Zverev said as he approached the official while holding up the feather.
Zverev was already heated earlier in that game, when a spectator yelled “out” during a point. Zverev complained about it to Forcadell, who asked the crowd not to shout during points. After losing the next point, Zverev was warned about showing too much frustration.
After the feather episode, Zverev grasped the net to pause for a while before going back to work, but Paul soon held serve.
Zverev lost that game but went on to a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (0), 2-6, 6-1 victory.
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