"Leyhani is a side show": Serena Williams’ ex-coach criticises chair umpire decision during Rome Open clash between Dan Evans, Fabio Fognini

The former world number Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, criticised the behaviour of the chair umpire during the first-round clash of the Rome Open between Britain’s Dan Evans and Fabio Fognini. The round of 128 clash took place on Thursday where the 36-year-old came out on top with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

During the third round of the match, the incident took place where chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani awarded a point to the Italian even though it seemed the ball landed inside the white line. That decision did not go well with Stubbs who, in a post on her official account on the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter — was extremely critical as she criticised the decision and called the chair umpire a ‘side show’.

"Leyhani is a side show! And the way he ran into Dan is, horrible call ! i can’t wait to finally have everywhere! We can all see how clearly out this ball was,” she wrote. The joy of that win was short-lived as Fognini was eventually knocked out of the competition after losing in the round of 64 to America’s Taylor Fritz in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4 on Friday.