Taylor Fritz was less than impressed with a chair umpire who stopped a rally mid-point at the Cincinnati Open.
The 11th seed took on American compatriot Brandon Nakashima in his first match of the tournament.
The 26-year-old is looking to build some momentum heading into the US Open after Fritz suffered an early exit in Montreal last week.
But Fritz was eliminated even earlier from the Cincinnati Open from which is not ideal preparation for the final Grand Slam of the year.
Why was Taylor Fritz upset with the chair umpire at the Cincinnati Open?
During the second set with Taylor Fritz trailing, a controversial moment occurred when Nakashima sent a forehand long during a rally.
He stopped momentarily expecting the ball to be called out by the electronic system, but this did not materialise and the players continued their rally.
Several shots later, chair umpire Greg Allensworth decided to stop the point and announced it will be replayed due to a technical error with the electronic line call system.
This left Fritz furious as he argued the ball was comfortably out, and while the umpire agreed, he claimed had the player made an effort to stop the point straightaway, he would have made a decision.
The American then questioned the purpose of electronic line calling, but Allensworth stood by his decision and the point was replayed, which led to him being booed by the crowd.
The full conversation between Taylor Fritz and umpire Greg Allensworth
“How is this a let? Look how far the ball is out,” Fritz began.
“I understand that,” Allensworth responded. “However they didn’t stop it in time. We played six or seven more times.
Fritz: “I mean I stopped.”
Allensworth: “Well, if you would have stopped the point we would have looked at it.”
Fritz: “Okay, no, wait, no, no, no. Don’t tell me I need to stop the point when we have electronic line calling.”
Allensworth: “That’s how it works. We could have stopped the point and looked at it then.”
Fritz: “I mean, yeah, if we didn’t have electronic line calling I would have stopped the point. The ball is too far out.”
Allensworth: “It’s too late. We’re going to have to replay the point.”
Fritz: “Why don’t you stop it? You are in the chair, you saw the ball was a foot out.”
Allensworth: “For me it was out but I can’t do that.”
Fritz: “That’s the craziest thing I have ever seen.”
What happened after the controversial point in Taylor Fritz’s Cincinnati Open match?
The aforementioned point was replayed and Fritz won it, before going to level the match at a set apiece.
But it was Nakashima who claimed victory after edging a final set tiebreak to defeat Fritz for the first time by a score of 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4). Post-match, Fritz took to social media platform X to address the chair umpire incident.
“Imagine telling me I needed to stop the point when we have literal Hawkeye electronic line calling,” he said alongside some laughing emojis, still in disbelief by what transpired.
For anyone who Fritz felt might have been making excuses, he added: “Side note- 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 call.”
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