(VIDEO) Pablo Carreno Busta pushes chair umpire during Challenger event in Girona

Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta was involved in a heated exchange with the chair umpire during the Girona Challenger. The 33-year-old faced Belarus’ Iliyan Radulov in the round of 16, where he came out on top in the third set with a score of 6-2, 5-7, 7-6.

During the tiebreaker of the third set, Busta was involved in a heated exchange and ended up pushing the chair umpire as well after the first point. After a detailed discussion, which lasted as many as 10 minutes, it was decided that the point would be replayed. The video of the whole incident was released on the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter.

Before facing Radulov in the round, Busta secured a thumping win in the first round against Argentina’s Pedro Cachin in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-3. It is the fourth Challenger event this year where the Gijon-born star cemented his spot in the quarterfinal. Before that, he played in the quarterfinal of the Challengers event in Open Occitanie, in Tenerife and Tenerife 2.

He is now set to face Croatia’s Marin Cilic in the last-eight clash of the competition on Friday. The 36-year-old, who is also a one-time Grand Slam winner as he lifted the 2014 US Open after beating Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the final, cemented his spot in the quarterfinal of the ongoing Challengers event after beating Marton Fucsovics in the round of 16 with a score of 6-7, 7-6, 6-2. It will be the seventh meeting between the two players. In the previous six meetings, Cilic had a clear advantage as he emerged victorious on five occasions and suffered just one defeat in the process. Their most recent meeting came way back in 2022 during the Davis Cup, where Cilic came out on top with a score of 5-7, 6-3, 7-6.