Saturday, February 7, 2009

Mauresmo furious with Pennetta over Fed Cup 'finger insult'


Amelie confronting the Referee on the Incident after her loss


Amelie Mauresmo slammed the umpire after he handed Italy's Flavia Pennetta only a verbal warning for making an obscene gesture during their Fed Cup first round tie on Saturday. In the opening rubber between France and Italy, Pennetta reacted angrily toward the umpire after he overruled a backhand passing shot by her that had initially been called in. The overrule handed Mauresmo a match point in the second-set tiebreak. "I did not see the incident because I was facing the other side but I heard the announcement of the warning," said Mauresmo, "(Team mate) Alize Cornet saw it all and saw what she (Pennetta) told the umpire. She should have been kicked out of the court. "There are no limits anymore in the behavior a player can have with an umpire. It is unbelievable." After the incident, Mauresmo went on to double fault on the match point. Pennetta regained her focus to give Italy a 1-0 lead. "I lost my rhythm because we had to wait (for play to resume) but I'm not looking for excuses," Mauresmo said. "We have prepared a letter for the supervisor to have the result of the match being revised," Escude said. Pennetta, who did receive a warning for her conduct, said she was sorry afterwards.

"I am not pleased with myself but that's the first time such a thing has happened to me - it was a gruelling match from the start and I lost control as I really thought the ball was in," said the Italian.

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