Why Taylor Fritz was on his knees begging after umpire decision during his match vs Aleksandar Vukic

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Taylor Fritz did his best to persuade the chair umpire to see his point of view at the Eastbourne International.

On Friday the American took to the court to play Aleksandar Vukic for a spot in Saturday’s championship match.

He prevailed in two tiebreaks against the resolute Australian and now has a chance to win the grass court tournament for the third time in his career.

But in a dramatic moment towards the end of the first set, fans saw Fritz take up a position on court that they did not expect as he got on his knees and begged the official to make a call.

Why was Taylor Fritz on his knees begging at Eastbourne?

The incident occurred during the first set tiebreak while Fritz was leading Vukic 5-4.

The 28-year-old claimed a point following a ‘one motion, double hit’ volley, but Fritz disagreed and believed the ball actually hit his opponent’s body and he should be awarded the point.

To help plead his case, the Eastbourne top seed begged on his knees in front of the chair umpire in what was a humorous moment on centre court, but his efforts were in vain and he lost the point.

Despite the disappointment, Fritz claimed the tiebreak seven points to five, and took the second set breaker 7-4 to win the match 7-6(5), 7-6(4).

He will face Max Purcell in the final, who ended the fairytale campaign of Britain’s Bill Harris with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory.

Taylor Fritz’s dominant serve bodes well for Wimbledon

Fritz’s serve has been firing on all cylinders at Eastbourne this week and has helped him come through some close matches. The 26-year-old has dropped just eight points behind his first serve all week, two of which came against Vukic.

He is feeling confident ahead of the Eastbourne final and will aim to carry that form into the Wimbledon Championships.

“It doesn’t feel good just scraping by in ‘breakers but it gives me a lot of confidence that I am finding ways to win,” Fritz said post match.

“I’m playing fine. It’s tough to judge yesterday and the first three-fourths of this match; in the wind it’s never going to be pretty. I started to find a bit of rhythm in the end when the wind died down. At least I can say that I’m serving well and I am getting those chances to break. I just need to take them.”