Mohamed Lahyani is definitely one of the best and likable umpires of the world.

Unfortunately, Mohamed went a bit too much out of this way to “help” Nick Kyrgios to provide a “too valuable” support to the Australian during his struggle against Herbert to stir all sort of criticism all over the places. (full story)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS_Tr5dOxcY

No sanctions

Eventually, the USTA (United States Tennis Association) took the (fantastic) decision not to penalize Mohamed that will keep on officiating during the tournament.

The statement

“After a comprehensive review conducted by US Open officials, including US Open tournament director David Brewer, tournament referee Brian Earley, and others, the US Open determined that chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani’s conduct during Thursday’s second-round match involving Nick Kyrgios and Pierre-Hugues Herbert went beyond protocol.

Lahyani was advised to adhere to proper protocols in all matches that he officiates moving forward. Lahyani will continue to officiate during the 2018 US Open. His performance will continue to be evaluated, as will that of all chair umpires throughout the course of the US Open.”

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The support from Djokovic

Lahyani is widely appreciated by the tennis players, and he received a lot of support.

Also, Djokovic commented

“I understand why people, maybe Herbert, is upset because that has happened. A chair umpire should be neutral.

But everybody who knows Mohamed knows he’s quite different from others. He’s always very positive; smiles tries to bring that energy to the court. He likes to make a show, as well, out of it.

Knowing Mohamed, I really don’t think that he meant to do it for any other reason but to really try to help Nick to understand that if he continues doing that he might get fined or a warning.”

We can’t disagree with Nole (and the others).

Good decision.

Very happy about decision from the @usta to let umpire #Layani continue doing his job ! ( please stay on the chair ) @usopen

— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) August 31, 2018

Absolutely. Made a mistake for sure but #Layani is the best umpire we have on tour. #usopen https://t.co/fgkcVWQJOo

— Vasek Pospisil (@VasekPospisil) August 31, 2018

#layani great job mr layani from a real tennis lover, john mcenroe agree with https://t.co/avoBl9sO17 https://t.co/2knC5DLnUr

— Vincenzo Martucci (@VinceMartucci) August 31, 2018

The way Layani is being treated is a disgrace. Essentially asking a player to put more effort in as he has a responsibility to the tournament, fans etc is absolutely fine. People bitch about Nick tanking but then hate someone asking him to stop?

— Paul Timmons (@Arsenal9Fan) August 30, 2018

So first off Layhani is a good man who genuinely cares about people. I really like him as a human….. he did something he shouldn’t have. This is behavior we should see more of these days. Unfortunately it was the wrong time/place for it. Selfishly I hope they go easy on him https://t.co/lwU63jVS3I

— andyroddick (@andyroddick) August 30, 2018

Suggestion that Mo Layhani should be fired are way way off base.

He needs to learn from this and be a little less chummy moving forward.

I’ve made much worse on court mistakes and lived to umpire another day. It’s how you learn.

— Richard Ings (@ringsau) August 31, 2018