(VIDEO) Match fixing claims aimed at Ugo Humbert after checking phone at crucial part of match

There has been some controversy surrounding Ugo Humbert at the Open Occitanie, with the Frenchman going to his chair to seemingly look at his phone in a critical stage of the third set tiebreak.

It was a complete thriller against fellow countryman Adrian Mannarino. The 37-year-old had been in some dreadful form, only just recently getting his first singles ATP win since the opening round of the Shanghai Masters back at the start of October. He was firmly the second favourite against someone with a reputation of being very skilled on the indoor hardcourt surface.

The first set went all the way to a tiebreaker, in which Humbert pounced first. At 3-4 down, he would win four points in a row to take the first set and a huge step towards the quarter-finals in Montpellier. however, the veteran was not going to bow down and give him the win that easily. After a flurry of break points were squandered between both players at the start of the second set, Mannarino was finally able to take an opportunity of his own to sail into a 5-3 lead, holding to love as he quickly confirmed a third set.

Controversy at the end of match

This is where all the talking point has been aimed at in a match that has viewers gripped. It was another set with no breaks, but that could have been different if Humbert got the match wrapped up with one of the three match points he was offered.

A second tiebreak was utilised, with the winner of it booking their spot in the last-16. Humbert raced into a 4-3 lead after winning two points on his opponents serve. Then, in a bizarre turn of events he wondered over to his chair, checking his phone in the process. The former world number 13 then returned to his side of the court and went on to lose every other point in the match. The result of this was that Mannarino won four points on the spin to win the contest and continue his fine outing in his homeland. He will take on wildcard Arthur Gea, who has come through two matches where his opponents have retired.

However, many people are overlooking this brilliant opportunity for these French players to focus on the former French number one’s antics in that tiebreaker. Many fans have called this out as match fixing. The video of this quickly went viral online and received a lot of differing opinions from tennis fans.

“I just wanna know what would ever be the purpose of this? Why couldn’t he wait until after the match which was literally minutes later,” one fan commented. “The FBI needs to investigate Ugo Humbert,” someone else remarked.

The reason for this could be from a vast list of possible outcomes. It is not common to see players look at their phones after matches to catch up on something missed or to check in on anything important. However, the alarm bells are raised when a player does it at such a crucial time in the match. Whatever reason it is, the ATP have not come out and commented on it yet nor have they looked like investigating the situation or even sanction Humbert. The 27-year-old will feature next in another indoor hardcourt tournament, this time outside of France in Rotterdam at the ABN AMRO Open.

Controversy at the end of match

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