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US OPEN SCENE: Berdych apologizes to chair umpire

Tomas Berdych, of the Czech Republic, argues with the chair umpire who ruled that a ball hit by Marin Cilic, of Croatia, bounced twice before hitting Berdych's racket during the quarterfinals of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Tomas Berdych, of the Czech Republic, argues with the chair umpire who ruled that a ball hit by Marin Cilic, of Croatia, bounced twice before hitting Berdych's racket during the quarterfinals of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Tomas Berdych, of the Czech Republic, argues with the chair umpire who ruled that a ball hit by Marin Cilic, of Croatia, bounced twice before hitting Berdych's racket during the quarterfinals of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

By Associated Press 2 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – Give Tomas Berdych credit for this: He apologized.

Sure, it came a day after his rant at a U.S. Open chair umpire over what turned out to be a correct call in Berdych’s quarterfinal loss. And sure, it came via Twitter, instead of face to face.

Still, the player from the Czech Republic did extend an olive branch – well, colorful flower bouquet emojis – by writing a tweet Friday that said: “this i my personal apologize to the referee from yesterday.She was right.My emotions were driving my crazy…Sorry for that.”

In the third set Thursday against Marin Cilic, the sixth-seeded Berdych thought he won a point when he raced forward to get to a ball and lift it back over the net. But chair umpire Louise Azemar Engzell awarded the point to Cilic, saying the ball bounced twice before Berdych hit it.

Berdych argued over and over, at one point saying: “Have you ever had a racket in your hand?”

– By Howard Fendrich, http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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U.S. Open Scene follows tennis’ hard-court Grand Slam tournament in New York as seen by journalists from The Associated Press. It will be updated throughout the day.