- Marton Fuscovics vs Grigor Dimitrov postponed due to clothing
- Fuscovics was pulled aside over his top by the referee
- Former world number 3 considers the Australian Open his best Grand Slam
Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov had to wait to start his campaign to win the Australian Open due to a bizarre robbery involving his opponent’s team on Tuesday.
There was a brief delay at John Cain Arena as Hungarian veteran Marton Fucsovics was ordered to change his shirt before the first round match could start.
The problem turned out to be the number of logos visible on the top of Fucsovics. Players are not limited when it comes to advertising approved tennis apparel manufacturers on their kit, but can only display a maximum of two “commercial” logos of a certain size.
Marton Fucsovics donned this pink shirt after being told the top he wore during warm-up broke tournament rules
The Hungarian veteran was told that he had too many sponsor logos on his kit
Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov came to the Open on the back of his big win in the Brisbane International warm-up tournament
Fucsovics was allowed to continue the warm-up wearing the original shirt, while his team grabbed another shirt for him to wear during the match.
Tennis Australia was contacted for comment on the delay.
However, the referee’s intervention did the 31-year-old no harm as he claimed an early break over 13th seed Dimitrov as he took the first set 6-4.
However, Dimitrov stormed back and took the second 6-3.
The drama over the top was reminiscent of the fuss surrounding Victoria Azarenka’s decision to wear a Paris Saint-Germain football shirt at the Australian Open last year, as the French team is her son’s favorite team.
Open officials ordered her to remove the top before her semi-final against Elena Rybakina because it bore sponsor logos.
“They told me to take it off twice because I had a different shirt,” Azarenka said.
‘I think it’s because of the sponsorship. I think the logos are too big. I mean, it’s not something that they’ve done that’s unusual. I know I’m not allowed to play in that. I knew that kind of thing.
“But I can still step on the field in whatever I want.
‘I do it for my own reasons. My son wore the white jersey today during his training, and I tried to wear a white jersey during my match, but it didn’t work. So that’s okay.’
The Australian Open is the favorite grand slam of former world number 3 Fuscovics, who reached the quarter-finals three times and reached a semi-final in 2017.
Dimitrov entered the Open fresh from his win at the Brisbane International, where he did not drop a set after Andy Murray took the first from him in his opening match of the tournament.