On Monday, March 25, 2024, Martin Damm and Christopher O’Connell got into a furious argument during their third-round match at the Miami Open.In the first round, O’Connell overcame Vit Kopriva, and in the second round, he defeated Frances Tiafoe. Tommy Paul’s retirement in the second round allowed Martin Damm to advance to the third round, where he defeated Zhang Zhizheng.
In a closely contested match, the Australian defeated Damm 7-6(5), 7-6(5). While O’Connell was tending to the set at 5 p.m., the incident happened. The Australian lost his cool and said that Damm had been shouting at him to get in the way of his serve.
“What are you doing? You’re calling out before I even serve. You’re shouting out just before I serve. Prior to my serving. If you do it after a certain point, I don’t really care. However, if you do it just before I serve, O’Connell stated.
Damm begged the umpire to rule that he had done nothing wrong.
“I’m not doing anything,” Damm answered.
The players’ back-and-forth was interrupted by the chair umpire.
“Guys, if you come via me, everything will go better.
Damm went on arguing his position.
“You say, ‘I am holding the ball. What do you mean? You have the ball in your hand. They are in your hands. When you’re serving, it’s not,” remarked Martin Damm
A moment of contention between O'Connell and Damm 👀@MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/n3jyHM7kVE
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 25, 2024