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Tension flared during the Lille Challenger first-round encounter between Radu Albot and Mark Lajal, with the Moldovan hurling abuses toward his opponent during a tense second set. The match on the whole saw plenty of heated moments.
Albot sailed through the first set, winning it 6-2. He started the second set in similar fashion, breaking his opponent's serve early.
The incident in question occurred during the seventh game of the second set when Albot was serving at 4-3. Lajal broke the Moldovan's serve after a tense game and reacted vehemently, loudly screaming "yeah" in the direction of the crowd.
A livid Albot infuriated about his serve being broken, hurled a volley of abuses toward the Estonian in return.
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"Shut the f*ck up, you piece of sh*t," Albot was quoted as saying.
Lajal went on to win the set in the breaker 7-5. Albot, however, bounced back in the decider and broke his Lajal's serve five times in total to secure the match 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
Radu Albot registered his first win of the season at the Delray Beach Open
Radu Albot registered his first win of the 2024 season at the Delray Beach Open in the second week of February. He came through the qualifiers, beating August Holmgren and Terence Atmane to book his place in the main draw.
He saw off Chinese teen Shang Juncheng in the first round 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Up against second seed Frances Tiafoe in the second round, Albot went down fighting 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4).
He began the new season on the Challenger tour in Canberra, Australia, losing to Dino Prizmic 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2 in the first round. At the Australian Open the following week, he was seeded No. 23 in the qualifiers. He, however, lost in the first round once again to Italy's Stefano Napolitano 7-5, 7-5.
At the Punta del Este Challenger in Uruguay the following week, Albot beat Genaro Alberto Olivieri and eighth seed Luciano Darderi in the first two rounds. He then stumbled in the quarterfinals to another Italian, Marco Cecchinato, who prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the tight three-set contest.
Albot didn't fare too well at the Dallas Open the following week, losing 6-3, 7-6 (3) to Denis Kudla in round one.
