‘That’s F****** ridiculous!’: Alison Riske-Amritraj blasts Australian Open umpire for ‘sleeping’ during point

Alison Riske-Amritraj and her doubles partner Linda Fruhvirtova were left baffled an umpire’s call during their doubles match on Friday in the ongoing Australian Open after they were wrongly docked a point because the American was given a hindrance call for ostensibly shouting, “Sorry!” during the point against their Russian opponents Natela Dzalamidze and Alexandra Panova.
Riske-Amritraj struck the ball into the body of her opponent before quickly apologising. As a result, match chair umpire Nico Helwerth awarded the point to Alexandra Panova and Natela Dzalamidze.
“Ladies and gentlemen, due to the hindrance Ms Riske-Amritraj has created, the point goes to Dzalamidze/Panova,” said Helwerth.

She should have called it on herself & the umpire apologized for his incorrect ruling after, which I accepted. Poor sportsmanship and cheating happens all the time, especially at the junior level. Parents/players spend too much time, money & mental energy for that experience. 1/2 https://t.co/BJ4WzST7iu
— Alison Riske-Amritraj🇺🇸🇮🇳 (@Riske4rewards) January 20, 2023
“Once it hit her, that’s when I said sorry,” Riske-Amritraj shot back at Helwerth. “I wouldn’t have said sorry if I didn’t hit her. It hit her leg, it didn’t hit her arm or racket.”
“If I don’t see that, I cannot judge it,” the umpire responded.
In reality, the American had accidentally hit her opponent at net early in the second set. The force of the ball caused it to bounce back over the net and lead umpire Nico Helwerth to believe contact had been made with a racquet.
Riske-Amritraj and Fruhvirtova argued in vain, first with Helwerth and later with supervisor Kerrilyn Cramer, but they rallied to beat Dzalamidze and Panova, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5.
The American called for a supervisor, who was unmoved, saying the call was the umpire’s to make.

Riske-Amritraj exploded, saying, “What the hell is he doing up there, then? That’s f****** ridiculous, Caroline. That’s ridiculous. Is he sleeping? I wouldn’t say sorry.”
“The way you see it, the way you see it. I’m sure you see it that way,” Riske-Amritraj continued in a mocking tone of the umpire. “That’s ridiculous. That’s absolutely ridiculous. Pay attention dude. That’s tennis 101.”