A controversial call from the chair umpire became the
talking point during the ongoing ATP Challenger event. The competition is
taking place in Turin where some top-quality players are featuring who are
participating to prepare for the upcoming second Grand Slam of the year, the
French Open.
The list of players also include some noticeable names who crashed
out of the Rome Open as well. In the round of 32 encounter featuring a local
player in
Luca Nardi and Argentina’s
Mariano Navone, a controversial call from
the chair umpire gathered all the attention.
In the third set of the match, when it was all equal at 5-5,
Nardi had the urge to rush to the toilet which was granted by the chair umpire.
However, the player did not return in allotted time and was subsequently
penalised. He was due to serve but the chair umpire ruled that the Italian
tennis player ended up losing all three points.
That, however, did not impact the outcome of the match as Nardi
came out on top with a score of 6-1, 5-7, 7-6. The winning player ended up
registering 64 percent of the points on first serve, considerably higher than his
opponent, who won 56 percent of the points on his first serve. He converted eight break
points as well. Next up for Nardi will be Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli. The
25-year-old cemented his spot in the second round of the competition after beating
Finland’s Otto Virtanen in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2. The
second-round contest will take place on Thursday.
Rules are rules. 😂