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Viktor Troicki played a pretty forgettable match against Ernests Gulbis in the second round of the Italian Open on Wednesday, but he did have a pretty memorable meltdown.

Troicki was down a set and serving to start out the second set down 30-40. Facing a break point, Troicki hit a crosscourt backhand that went deep and appeared to clip the line. The chair umpire called it out, giving Gulbis the break to start the set. It also led to a complete unraveling from Troicki, who went off the hinges.

Troicki immediately complained about the call, leading to him and the umpire investigating the mark the ball left on the clay court. Troicki pointed out that there was no space between the mark the ball left on the court and the baseline, while the umpire refused to change his call.

“You don’t want to correct yourself. You’re wrong,” Troicki kept repeating while making a huge scene.

“From space you can see it’s there,” he said, drawing plenty of laughter.

“You are 100 percent wrong. I wouldn’t make a show out of this,” he continued.

Then around the 2:45 mark, takes the cameramen and has them come out to film a zoomed-in shot of the ball. The camera guys seemed to be loving it, too.

With all respect to Troicki, it looks like he was right in his argument. Check out where the ball landed:

The interesting part of the debate is that the umpire refused to agree that the ball covered the line. With the hawkeye technology used to review plays, as long as any part of the ball covers the line, it is considered in. That’s the exact concession the umpire was refusing to allow in this case.

Troicki lost the match 6-1, 6-1.

Rihanna: JR Smith slumping because he’s hungover from partying in clubs

J.R. Smith has been shooting the ball terribly during the playoffs, and Rihanna says that’s because the New York Knicks guard is hungover from partying in clubs every night.

Smith shot the ball well in Games 2 and 3 of the Knicks-Boston Celtics series, which the Knicks won in six games. He went 13-of-27 (48 percent) including 4-9 (44 percent) on 3-pointers those two games. But after being suspended for Game 4 of the series for his elbow to Jason Terry in Game 3, Smith began shooting terribly.

Smith has shot an abysmal 28.6 percent from the field since Game 5 against the Celtics. No surprise, New York has struggled accordingly and only gone 2-4 in those playoff games. Now Rihanna has an explanation for his struggles.

Smith and Rihanna were rumored to have been dating last year. The gossip about them picked up again last week after they were pictured partying at the same club. Rihanna also confirmed she broke up with Chris Brown.

The singer posted a photo to her popular Instagram account on Thursday and must have received a comment from a Knicks fan who goes by @peruvian_gawd on Instagram. She responded to him with the message below where she says Smith is screwing up because he’s hungover from partying at clubs every night:

What’s funny is that less than two weeks ago Smith admonished those who criticized him for allegedly partying the night before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. After the Knicks won Game 2 to tie their series with the Pacers, Smith was pictured nearby Rihanna t a club:

 

 

So not only does Rihanna say the two are not dating, she is also blaming Smith’s partying on his struggles. You may recall that Smith admitted in November that he partied too much last season and that he wasn’t focused. Is the same pattern repeating itself?

 

Find the Article Here:

http://larrybrownsports.com/basketball/rihanna-jr-smith-hungover-partying-clubs/187764