Taylor Fritz slams ‘ridiculous’ electronic line error after Cincinnati Masters exit
Taylor Fritz was involved in a controversial moment at the Cincinnati Open last night, with the American No.1 exiting the tournament at the hands of his compatriot Brandon Nakashima.
Fritz was beaten by the wildcard, 4-6 6-4 6(4)-7, in the first round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
A close one to the very end 😱@b_nakashima defeats Fritz 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) for a spot in the second round. #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/hgfZfG9y3I
— Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 14, 2024
However, the main talking point of the match came at 3-2 30-30 to Fritz in the second set, when a ball hit by Nakashima that appeared to be long of the baseline was not called out by the electronic line calling.
The World No.12 appeared to be phased by the lack of call, but continued on the point for a few more shots before chair umpire Greg Allensworth halted the rally and requested for it to be replayed.
This was met with a defiant response by Fritz, who suggested that he should be awarded the point as the ball had already gone out.
“It’s actually ridiculous,” said the 26-year-old. “Look how far the ball was out.”
Umpire Allensworth responded to Fritz’s claims and told the American that he needed to stop the point straight away, which resulted in a lengthy exchange between the pair.
“I understand that, however, they didn’t stop in time,” said the umpire. “We played six or seven more shots.”
Fritz did go onto win the replay of the point, and took to social media after the match to insist that he was not using the situation as an excuse for his earliest defeat in Cincinnati since 2021.
“Imagine telling me I needed to stop the point when we have literal Hawkeye electronic line calling,” Taylor Fritz said on X (former known as Twitter.
He later 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.”
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
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) August 14, 2024
The Olympic doubles bronze medallist was backed by some of his peers including Daniil Medvedev, Frances Tiafoe and Denis Shapovalov.
“Ridiculous decision.. ball is out, point is over, point to Fritz. How was this not the outcome?” questioned Medvedev.
Fritz’s friend and compatriot Tiafoe claimed that he had been through a similar incident in recent times when commenting on the social media video, “Bro this gotta get figured out this happen to me last week. Do better @atptour y’all please do better.”
Despite the outrage by his peers, it is Nakashima who moves onto the second round in Cincinnati to play Frenchman Arthur Fils.
Inside the baseline…
Mistakes happen with technology and nothing is ever perfect, but that is what umpires are there for and it really just needed a bit of common sense to determine that Taylor Fritz should have been awarded the point. Luckily for umpire Greg Allensworth, Fritz did end up winning the point and in fact that set. It would be interesting to see if this could be avoided at the upcoming US Open, where video reviews can be used on some of the bigger courts. All the controversy aside, it is another great win for the very talented Brandon Nakashima, who also beat Tommy Paul last week in Montreal.
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