
Drama between Devilliers, Hewett adds spice to men's doubles action at Proton Tucson Open
Showcase Court 1 was the site of some men's doubles drama on Saturday at the Proton Tuscon Open.
It was business as usual in the quarterfinals match between No. 12 seeds Jay Devilliers and Patrick Smith and No. 13 seeds Noe Khlif and Rafa Hewett... until late in the opening game.
That's when things got INTENSE.
With Devilliers and Smith leading 10-8, Devilliers hit an ATP that appeared to be in, but Hewett insisted that it missed the mark.
"Out!" exclaimed Hewett.
"No, no!" replied Devilliers.
"That's crazy! That's crazy!" said Hewett.
Enter the referee, who agreed with Devilliers' assessment of the situation.
"Guys, that ball was good," he explained.
"No, no, no, no, no," replied Hewett.
"It's not even close, Rafa," exclaimed Devilliers. "Rafa, it was inside."
"Come on. That, I saw!" said the referee.
"You're telling me you saw that from over here?" asked Hewett, pointing to the fact that the official was positioned on the other side of the court for the point in question.
"I saw it touch the line," replied the referee. "I saw it touch the line."
"You saw the second bounce," said Hewett.
"No, I saw it touch the line." replied the referee again.
"No, you didn't," said Hewett.
It was an interesting exchange to say the least.
And the fun continued from there.
Shortly after the ensuing point ended with Smith putting a ball into the net, Hewett yelled "BALL DON'T LIE!" in the direction of the referee to essentially voice his displeasure with the previous call.
"I can say 'Ball don't lie' all day," said Hewett.
"You certainly can. It seems to be directed at me," replied the referee.
Hewett's conduct seemed to irk Devilliers, so he responded with a Nasty Nelson attempt seconds later.
"Love that, Jay," said Hewett. "What do you think? What do you got for that?"
"Well, he lost a serve," replied the referee.
"I missed the serve," said Devilliers.
"You don't have anything for that, ref?" mentioned Hewett.
"I missed my serve," insisted Devilliers.
"Was that intentional?" asked Hewett.
Khlif and Hewett then called a timeout to regroup and focus on winning the stanza - which they did by a score of 12-10.
The tandem fought off eight game points to get the job done.
Khlif and Hewett also cruised to an 11-1 triumph in the second game to ultimately win the match and advance to the semis.
There's nothing quite like pickleball drama, people. It's good stuff.
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