Unusual failure in tennis: he won the match, but the umpire ordered a repeat point and ended up losing

An unprecedented episode occurred this week during a Houston ATP 250 qualifying match held in Texas, United States, when a judge, after having finished the match, ordered the last point to be repeated. His decision, questioned by the tennis players themselves, changed the outcome of the match as the Canadian Steven Díez, who had celebrated in the first instance, ended up losing.

“Game, set and match”, he is clearly heard saying to the umpire in the viralized video in the last few hours. His cry comes after Díez got a winning pass after the serve of his opponent, the Dutchman Gijs Brouwer.

The Canadian celebrated with his hands up and a cry of relief but found that the chair judge had descended to the field of play to check the score of the ball at the start of the action. Then, the umpire detected that Brouwer's serve had been bad and therefore had to be repeated, despite the fact that second ago the match had ended.

“Call the supervisor, it's not even the right mark and he has played the point,” immediately exclaimed Díez, who still maintains that the referee got the wrong mark when approaching. In the video you can even see how one of the lines adds to the discussion and seems to prove the Canadian tennis player right.

The 292 number in the ranking had to swallow the fight because the umpire ordered to repeat the point, which Brouwer finally won with his serve. In this way, what was going to be a 6-4 and 6-4, stretched several games and reached the third set. There, the Dutchman triumphed, won 4-6, 7-5 and 6-2 and won the main draw qualification for the ATP 250 Houston, where he will face Spaniard Feliciano López.

Hours later, Díez posted a strong release on his social networks. “I have nothing against the referee, I'm sure he did what he could. As can be seen in the video, I won the match with a right-wing passing that my rival is trying to return. He even turns his head to see where the ball bounced. When I was about to shake hands with my opponent on the net, the judge goes down to look at the brand. That's his big mistake because the match was over. His second mistake: to point out a ball that is one meter apart from the real pot. The third mistake: he asks the linesman and scores the first ball. Fourth mistake: he says my rival hasn't played the point.”

Despite the scandal, Díez can smile as he will be able to compete in the main draw for the last-minute loss of Spaniard Jaume Munar. His debut will be this Tuesday, against Australian Jordan Thompson.

KEEP READING: