WATCH: ATP qualifier sees bizarre point, player wins & then loses match

April 5, 2022

ATP Tennis Players, Tennis News, Tennis Tournaments

WATCH: ATP qualifier sees bizarre point, player loses match he had already won

Canadian pro Steven Diez won and then lost a qualifying match the ATP 250 US Men’s Clay Court Championships in a moment few fans will have seen before.

While facing the serve of Gijs Brouwer and up match point, Diez returned the Dutchman’s serve for a passing winner, at which point the umpire called “game, set and match,” for ATP number 292.

However, the umpire came to inspect the mark for the serve after Brouwer questioned it, at which point the umpire called the serve out, reversing the match win for Diez.

The Canadian can then be heard saying “It’s not even that one” in reference to the mark.

He continued: “[Brouwer] played the point!

“No, no, no, call the supervisor.”

Unfortunately for Diez, he went on to lose the match 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, seemingly ending his hopes of qualifying for the main draw.

But then, Diez was actually entered into the main draw as a lucky loser, meaning both he and Brouwer are competing at the Houston event.

That does not mean what happened has not caused a stir, with world number 18 Reilly Opelka among those commenting on the situation.

“Ref needs to be investigated as soon as possible,” he said in a retweet of a clip of the point in question.

Ref needs to be investigated asap https://t.co/XWfPJl1nsj
— Reilly Opelka (@ReillyOpelka) April 5, 2022

No doubt Diez was left confused not only by the fact that he thought the serve was in, but also that he had not won regardless given the umpire’s call of ‘game, set and match.’

He later made all his feelings clear in a message from his personal Twitter account.