Khachanov involved in rant towards umpire Adel Nour, furious at a line call in a second set tie-break.
Friday 23 October 2020 18:57, UK
British No 1 Dan Evans made it through to the semi-finals of the European Open in Antwerp after winning a spicy encounter against Karen Khachanov.
Evans' hopes of becoming the third successive Briton to win the tournament are still alive after a 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 victory over the third seed, who was lucky to avoid disqualification.
The match was marred by an explosive rant by Khachanov towards umpire Adel Nour, furious at a line call in a second set tie-break.
Having won the first set, the Russian was looking to get the job done comfortably and thought he had forced a match point when Evans looked to have hit a forehand wide in a tense tie-break.
With no Hawkeye, he was reliant on the umpire to overrule the line judge and when it did not come, Khachanov tore into umpire Nour.
He said: "It's a joke, it's a joke. Everyone can see it was out. Are you drunk today?
"What are you doing here? What are you doing here? You don't need to be here.
"It's a joke, with these guys you need to see every ball."
Evans then took the second set at the next point as the Russian kicked the net and then hit the umpire's chair with his racket.
Khachanov was unable to shake off his fury and Evans immediately broke in the final set before seeing out the win.
He will play Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the last four, hoping to continue the British dominance in Antwerp.
Kyle Edmund won the tournament in 2018 and then Andy Murray capped a remarkable comeback victory last year.
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