ZADAR, Croatia — Chair umpire Carlos Ramos issued a code violation to Croatia after Marin Cilic slammed his racket to the clay and mangled the frame during a tense Davis Cup match against Sam Querrey of the United States on Sunday.
Since it was the first violation of the match, it was only a warning. No points were deducted, and Cilic did not exchange any words with Ramos.
“Usually when you break a racket, you get a code violation,” Cilic said.
Ramos was the umpire who gave Serena Williams three code violations in her straight-sets loss to Naomi Osaka during last weekend’s US Open final. The American great argued she wasn’t being treated the same as some male players.
The normally collected Cilic lost his cool after committing a series of uncharacteristic errors late in the third set against Querrey.
After winning the opening set, Cilic wasted a 6-1 lead in the second-set tiebreak before losing 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4 to Querrey, who played in place of Steve Johnson. Querrey’s win evened the best-of-five series at 2-2.
Cilic couldn’t recall the last time he had smashed a racket.
“I don’t know,” he said, adding, “It’s always a little bit more nervous” to play in the Davis Cup.
Croatia’s Borna Coric is due to face Frances Tiafoe in the decisive fifth rubber. The winner will face France in the Nov. 23-25 final.