In the blink of an eye, the script was flipped, and destiny was rewritten. The Canadian Open was a pivotal tournament for Frances Tiafoe, who is trying to revive himself after a semifinal defeat at the Citi Open. However, a heart-stopping moment of confusion and a flash of controversy came his way in Toronto, snatching his opportunity to create his usual magic on-court. The 26-year-old player is not happy, and neither are fans!

In the opening set, Tiafoe gave his all to establish his power over his opponent, Alejandro Tabilo. But destiny didn’t work in his favor! When the set was at 5-4 (30-30), a technical issue became a point of concern on the ground. It happened due to an issue with the line calling system while Tabilo hit a shot out during the rally. Ultimately, the decision benefited the former World No. 1’s opponent, Tabilo.

The 27-year-old Chilean player, who was already leading the game by 5-4, capitalized on this opportunity to go ahead in the game and finish the set at 6-4. Soon, it became difficult for Tiafoe to make a comeback in the next set. As a result, the quarterfinalist of the Atlanta Open could not bounce back and ended the second set at 2-6.

It is indeed a hard pill to swallow, both for him and his fans. Frances Tiafoe, who skipped the Olympics to focus on his health and play on traditional tours, has yet to win a title this year. But it seems quite hard for him to get back to his rhythm. On top of that, a round of 64 exit from Toronto added more salt to his wound. Fans are not happy about the umpire’s decision taken during the match and have protested on X!

Fans react with anger to the decision taken during Frances Tiafoe’s Canadian Open match against Tabilo

Some fans pointed out the unfair judgement by Muhammad Lahyani, a Swedish tennis umpire, during the match. Although Lahyani is a gold badge chair umpire who has officiated many high-profile matches, be it in the Grand Slams or ATP tournaments, fans were skeptical at the call during the latest match of Tiafoe. One fan wrote, “Not controversial. Layani just lied and screw Tiafoe. This was bad, very bad. He should be punished.”

Another fan wrote, “This is that shit ppl be talking about but ppl wanna say this stuff don’t exist. This clearly should’ve been Tiafoe point.” Last year, a similar incident unfolded at the French Open, where Tiafoe was busy tackling Alexander Zverev. Although Tiafoe won the first set comfortably, the second set turned the match in his opponent’s favor. However, at the end of that set was a tie-break round where Zverev apparently won a point even after the ball appeared to be out. Fans criticized the line umpire and addressed the entire scenario as “awful“ and unfair.

Another fan, angry at the whole scenario, wrote, “How could this not be Tiafoe’s point? If they knew the ball was out?” Another example of an umpire’s unfair line-calling judgment for Tiafoe can again be noticed, this time against Novak Djokovic at the 2021 Australian Open. The American player received repeated time violations and even got his first serve taken away twice! “Come on, man. Its the second time, and at 30-30,“ an angry Tiafoe screamed at the chair umpire, Damien Dumusois. Sadly, nothing changed, and Djokovic defeated Frances Tiafoe.

A Davis Cup match against Tallon Griekspoor last year also hinted at a similar situation where a tie-break at the end of the third set became a point of conflict during the match. Although Tiafoe returned the serve with the ball landing on-court squarely, the line umpire called it out. Naturally, Bigfoe was not impressed but had to cope with the incident. It’s fair to say that this has been going on for a while now. Another fan called out the umpiring issue and wrote, “Why umpires trying to control game above their control level.. pathetic.”

One fan wrote, “How is that not called out when it’s that far. Who cares if the system stopped working just call what you see at that moment. No chance that should be a replay.“ Tiafoe is certainly going through a rough phase this season. Although he managed to secure a spot in the ATP Houston final match, he fell short against Ben Shelton. Moreover, a few weeks ago, a hip injury halted his game at the Queen’s too.

However, hopefully, Tiafoe will soon be back with more zeal and enthusiasm, breaking through all the bad luck and shining in the tennis world once again!