The past couple of weeks have seen umpires hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons and that has continued into the Swiss Indoors in Basel with Ben Shelton and Tomas Martin Etcheverry descending into chaos.
The umpire though the ball hit Etcheverry's leg before it hit the ground. He was clearly wrong and this in turn changed the whole course of the match as it was 15-40 instead of 30-30. Shelton broke Etcheverry in the very next point.
It also proved to be vital for the course of the match as Shelton from there went on to run out the winner in a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Argentine in the first round.
But after the past few weeks which have seen dodgy line calls go centre stage including Frances Tiafoe who soon shouted expletives at the umpire, Stefanos Tsitsipas who belittled the umpire for his perceived lack of tennis experience and cardio and other such incidents.
It calls out a major problem in the sport which surrounds line calling and umpire mistakes/human error which can happen and everyone is human but also leave players fuming especially when this happens time and again.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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