Pablo Carreno Busta went off the rails during the ATP Challenger tournament in Girona, Spain, on Thursday (March 27) after a dubious call from the chair umpire during the third set of his Round-of-16 match. A few fans on social media subsequently recalled Novak Djokovic’s default at the 2020 US Open for accidentally hitting a lineswoman, arguing that the Spaniard should’ve met the same fate as the Serb did for his actions.
Carreno Busta has been slugging it out on the Challenger circuit since suffering from a right elbow injury in February 2023 that put him out of action for more than a year. The former World No. 10 was embroiled in a third-set winner-takes-all tiebreaker against Bulgaria’s Iliyan Radulov in the third round of the 2025 Girona Challenger when the chair umpire corrected a linesman calling the Bulgarian’s shot out, in turn costing the Spaniard the point and putting him at a 0-2 deficit in the tiebreaker.
Incensed by the umpire’s overrule, the 33-year-old proceeded to push him while demanding a supervisor’s intervention. The Spaniard became increasingly vociferous as the umpire refused to budge until he finally gave in to the former’s request. The supervisor ultimately had the point replayed, and the World No. 109 won the encounter 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(4) to reach the quarterfinals in Girona.
A few hours after the incident, a few fans on X (formerly Twitter) pointed out the apparent double standards in the handling of Pablo Carreno Busta’s case relative to Novak Djokovic, who was disqualified from the fourth round of the 2020 US Open for carelessly swatting a ball at a lineswoman’s direction.
A few fans insisted that the 24-time Major winner wouldn’t have escaped a default had he been in the Spaniard’s position. Interestingly enough, it was Carreno Busta who benefitted from the Serb’s disqualification back then, that eventually allowed him to record his second career semifinal result at a Major.
“Rules are rules… unless you are Pablo Carreno Busta. If Novak did this, it would have been a default,” one fan claimed on X.
“Very disgraceful mate, if Novak did that, its a default and a ban,” another asserted.
One fan, meanwhile, went as far as to suggest that Pablo Carreno Busta deserved a suspension and a fine for his treatment of the umpire.
“Holy s**t, what a piece of s**t. Easy default, ban and fine,” they wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from social media:
“Did he just push the umpire ijbol,” one fan joked.
“The thing is that Novak is a truly gentleman and will never do that,” another insisted.
“Will always be a s**mbag,” one fan wrote.
“He should be banned for 6 months. Pathetic loser!” another wrote.
Pablo Carreno Busta also had an angry reaction the umpire at Australian Open 2019
Pablo Carreno Busta had one of men’s tennis’ biggest meltdowns following his fourth-round loss to Kei Nishikori at the Australian Open six years ago. The Spaniard and the Japanese had fought tooth and nail for five hours back then, and a super-tiebreaker was required to settle the five-setter.
Carreno Busta subsequently jumped to an 8-6 lead against his higher-ranked opponent, when the umpire refused to replay a point where a linesman had called his shot out before the former corrected the call. The Spaniard didn’t win another point following the incident, surrendering the match 7-6(8), 6-4, 6-7(4), 4-6, 6-7 [8-10]. The then-World No. 23 threw a fit as he walked back to the locker room, smashing his racket bag against the ground and screaming in anger.
Pablo Carreno Busta will next face a resurgent Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals of the Girona Challenger later this week. The winner of the match will face either Jesper De Jong or Sebastian Ofner in the semifinals of the tournament.