Mohamed Lahyani (born 27 June 1966) is a Swedish tennis umpire. He is a Gold Badge Chair Umpire certified by the

Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, an ...

. He is noted for presiding over the longest match in professional tennis history at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. He was briefly suspended in 2018 for words of encouragement to Nick Kyrgios during a US Open match between Kyrgios and

Pierre-Hugues Herbert Pierre-Hugues Herbert (; born 18 March 1991) is a French professional tennis player. In doubles, he has completed the Career Grand Slam with titles at the 2015 US Open, the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, the 2018 French Open, the 2021 French O ...

Biography

Lahyani was born in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in 1966. His family emigrated to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

when he was a child.

Career

Over the course of his career Lahyani officiated many high profile matches at both

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

and ATP tournaments, including the 2013 Wimbledon Men's Singles Final, and the 2008, 2010, and 2013

ATP World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results t ...

' Finals. Lahyani was also the Chair Umpire at the longest match in pro tennis history: the Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Lahyani later said he was so gripped by "an amazing match" that he couldn't even think of "eating or needing a bathroom'. After the match, he was presented with a crystal bowl, a Wimbledon tie and silver cufflinks. When a Canadian tennis reporter Tom Tebbutt surveyed a number of tennis journalists at the 2014 ATP World Tour Finals, the majority voted Lahyani as the best Chair Umpire. Lahyani is particularly known for a very distinctive way he often announces the score, toning it up or down depending on the score. For instance, when the server faces two break points, Lahyani would announce the score as "fifteen-FORTY", with an emphasis on "FORTY".

2018 US Open incident

At the 2018 US Open Lahyani made headlines after his controversial behaviour during the match between Nick Kyrgios and

, when he climbed down from his chair and encouraged Kyrgios to put in extra effort. At the time Kyrgios was losing by a set and a break, but after Lahyani's comments, recovered and won the match. After criticism from current and former players, Lahyani was suspended for the next two tournaments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahyani, Mohamed 1966 births Tennis umpires Living people Swedish people of Moroccan descent People from Tafraout