Lyon Open: Ymer gets defaulted after thrashing umpire’s chair, sending Fils moves quarter-finals

The Frenchman will face the winner of the match between Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, the top seed, and Spanish qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz in the next round

Mikael Ymer during his match against Arthur Fils at the Lyon ATP 250 Tournament Image Credit: Sandrine Thesillat / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

May 24, 2023

Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon •Round of 16 • completed

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A. FilsvsM. Ymer

French wildcard Arthur Fils moved into the quarter-finals of the Lyon Open when Swede Mikael Ymer was defaulted from their second round match at Parc de la Tête d’or on Wednesday.

Fils, ranked No 112, led 6-5 when Ymer, ranked No 53, was defaulted after banging his racket into the umpire’s chair.

Ymer’s outburst came after a controversial line call at 30-30 in the 11th game of the first set. The Swede wanted the chair umpire to come down and check a mark but the umpire insisted that Ymer had hit the ball and then asked for the mark to be checked, which is not allowed as per the rules.

After Fils hit a backhand pass to break in the 11th game, a frustrated Ymer hit the umpire’s chair as he walked on to sit down on the changeover, causing the default.

The 18-year-old Frenchman will face the winner of the match between Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, the top seed, and Spanish qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz next.

Arthur Fils won against Chinese qualifier Zhizhen Zhang (6-3, 6-2) in the previous round of the Lyon tournament.

In the previous round of the Lyon tournament, the Swede beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet, the No 7 seed (6-3, 7-5).

Lyon ATP250, other second-round results (Parc de la Tête d’or, clay, EUR 562,815)