Epic drama in Cincinnati! Brandon Nakashima shocks the tennis world by beating Taylor Fritz in a three-set thriller. However, more than the result of the match, a controversial moment in the second set has stirred a new controversy in the tennis world. The chair umpire was seen stopping the point in the middle of a rally, but why?

The score was well-poised at 6-4, 2-3, with Nakashima taking the first set and Fritz trying to make a comeback in the second. It was 30-30, and a ball hit by Nakashima seemed to be out, but the players continued playing, and even the chair umpire didn’t intervene. After a few shots, when suddenly the umpire stopped the play, Fritz looked a bit annoyed as he told him, “Look how far the ball was out.” Then the umpire replied, “I understand that, however, they didn’t stop it in time, we played 6, 7 more shots.“

After hearing this, Fritz yet again raised his protest, saying, “I mean I stopped.“ The umpire tried to  defend his own point of view by saying, “If you would’ve stopped the point…” however, the tennis star interrupted, saying, “Okay no wait no no no no, don’t tell me that I need to stop the point when we have electronic line calling.” The umpire then told him that he knew that, but that’s exactly how it works. He said the players could’ve stopped the point, and then they could’ve looked at it.

Fritz was a bit amazed by this. He said, “I mean yeah, if we didn’t have electronic calling, I stop the ball. It was so far out.” However, the umpire seemed to be unmoved by all these claims by the player. He said it was too late, and they had to replay the point. Was it the turning point of the match? Perhaps yes, or maybe not! However, Fritz asked the chair umpire, “But why don’t you stop it? You’re in the chair, you saw that ball. It was a foot out.” 

The umpire replied that even though he thought it was out, he couldn’t award the point to Fritz, so he announced to the crowd that due to a technical error, they would have to replay the point. Issues with line calling have persisted since the system was implemented. Even Rafael Nadal was not free from troubles with line calling earlier this year in the Madrid Open. 

This isn’t Fritz’s first rodeo with a controversial line call. We saw in the French Open this year, but what did he say on this incident after his match against Nakashima?

Taylor Fritz is a bit surprised with what happened in Cincinnati during his latest match

During his third-round match against Thanasi Kokkinakis at the French Open, there was a similar controversial incident that raised the eyebrows of the tennis fans. Fritz and Kokkinakis were in a rally when the Australian tennis star left a ball. He thought it was out, but the chair umpire came down from his chair to look out for the mark.

The umpire first called it in, but later on, the call was overturned, and Kokkinakis was offered the point. The point wasn’t replayed there, and as a result, Fritz lost the third set, but he won the match in a five-set thriller. However, things went a bit different this time.

Reflecting his thoughts on the whole incident, Fritz later put a tweet saying, “Imagine telling me I needed to stop the point when we have literal Hawkeye electronic line calling.“ He was bemused with how things went on during that moment. However, did it really make a big impact on this match? Well, Fritz has answered it himself!

The American tennis star tweeted, “I don’t think this changes anything in the match considering I won the point replay so don’t take this as an excuse… just pointing out an insane cal.” The troubles with line calling seem to persist in the sport. Will it ever be implemented without any issues?