Questionable time call riles Cilic against Nadal

A controversial umpiring call has left commentators wondering whether Marin Cilic was unfairly targeted in his match against Rafael Nadal.

Cilic and Nadal were midway through the second set of their quarter-final clash on Tuesday night when the World No.1 capitalised on a chair umpire's call that 'rattled' his opponent.

Serving at 2-2 and 15-40, sixth seed Cilic was hit with a time violation warning for taking too long in between points.

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Players are allowed 25 seconds between the end of the last point and the next serve, and if they aren't quick enough they get a warning.

If they flout the rule a second time they receive a point penalty.

Cilic was clearly unhappy with the chair umpire's call, serving a double fault before questioning her at the change of ends.

The Croatian seemed to suggest Nadal was taking just as long as him in between points.

"Was he at any point more than 25 seconds?" Cilic asked.

Commentators then echoed Cilic's thoughts.

"I can understand [Cilic], they are both taking a long time between points," John Fitzgerald said.

"Do you think Nadal has been over the 25 seconds at all because that's what Cilic was asking?" added Lleyton Hewitt.

Channel 7 stats showed Nadal had taken longer than 25 seconds on 45 per cent of his service points, as opposed to Cilic's 40 per cent.

To his credit, Cilic managed to keep a cool head throughout his exchange with the umpire, and managed to break back before taking the set to level the match at one set all.