The much-awaited grasscourt season has started on a disappointing note for American fans! Wondering what happened on the first day of its grandest tournament? Well, apart from the technical glitches from ESPN, the reason behind their misery also extends to Frances Tiafoe’s initial dicey performance against Matteo Arnaldi at Wimbledon. And fans dismayed at this double dose of sadness have taken to X to express their frustration.

Frances Tiafoe, who managed to secure his place in the third round of the event last year, was struggling to get past the first round this season. Although he is trying to overcome the Italian, he was initially about to crush his Wimbledon dreams and also the hearts of millions of his fans worldwide—maybe a bit more in his home country in this case. And why not? The former World No. 10, who has opted out of the Olympics this season, wants to bring his ‘A’ game to Wimbledon. Therefore, the stakes are even higher!

However, Tiafoe, who lost the first two sets, revived himself in the third and fourth ones! And after a successful fifth set win, he is back with his power game on! However, there is also another catch. Due to repeated interruptions on ESPN, fans did not get to see this match turn into Tiafoe’s favor.

This is because of several glitches with the stream. According to one fan, they are experiencing difficulty even showing the scores of the match! Furious at this, fans have flooded X with their wrath aimed at the broadcasting channel.

Fans react to the broadcasting interruption during Frances Tiafoe’s brilliant Wimbledon victory 

One fan took to X and wrote, “watched 10 minutes of ESPN coverage. Awful.” However, this is not the first time! While some are complaining about the site being slow, others are complaining about the difficulty of finding an ongoing match on ESPN+. However, according to some, the streams don’t even start on mobile devices at all. However, on the application TV, it says, “Event about to start.”

Another fan, complaining about the lack of a scoreboard, wrote on X, “This Tiafoe match does not even have a score on it, which is the BBC’s fault on ESPN. What is the point of showing outer court matches if there is no scorebug. Wimbledon definitely needs work on their technology, @TennisUpdates24.”

It seems as if you’re not personally at the All England Club, you might as well not watch the game.

While fans are struggling to watch the coverage, Frances Tiafoe is coming to Wimbledon after sustaining a hip injury at the Queen’s Club Championships earlier. Almost two weeks have passed since then, and it seems Tiafoe’s bad luck has ended finally!

Another fan who loves to hear Chris Evert’s commentary at Wimbledon, complained and wrote, “Chris, I love seeing your face, I do, but the only reason I’m watching it right now is because my ESPN + app and my Hulu are both glitching like everyone else’s. It’s sad what this network has come to.” The fan’s concern is understandable. After all, apart from the matches, it is the commentaries that also attract many to the game. And especially for Chris Evert, who is making a comeback to the commentary box after battling with her ovarian cancer this year for the second time. As a result, fans who were waiting to hear her commentary after the French Open tournament (where she was also behind a mic) are now saddened by this unexpected glitch.

However, apart from the tennis legend Evert, this year’s Wimbledon commentary also marks the debut of John Isner too. And joining him is Nick Kyrgios, who is known for his candid remarks about the players. But wait! Some of the fans are missing out on this due to the technical glitch. “These ESPN+ streams of the outside courts at Wimbledon have no commentary at all. Maybe my memory is glitching but I thought they at least had world feed announcers for Aussie and US Open streams,” one fan wrote on X.

One fan, enraged at the whole situation, went ahead and posed the question, “Why give @espn Tv rights if they haven’t posted anything about Wimbledon in the last 24 hrs and then there is zero sound all matches on Espn+.” And why not? Fans who initially thought that the 26-year-old is going to lose horribly in the match later found that Tiafoe is fighting back with full vigor and is winning the third and fourth sets (7-6, 6-2, 1-6, 3-6).

Therefore, when fans, especially the whole of America, were waiting to see Tiafoe bounce back, technical glitches were hindering their experience of a smooth broadcast. Nevertheless, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Frances Tiafoe, likely oblivious to this whole situation, is one step closer to conquering his dreams in London, as he has just won the opening match!