MELBOURNE: A bizarre umpiring blunder has marred a third-round Australian Open men's doubles match between Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos and Yannick Hanfmann/Dominik Koepfer.
At set point in the second set tie-breaker, Hanfmann's return to a Granollers serve flicked the let cord. Zeballos, positioned at the net, played a half-volley off the let cord, causing the ball to spin up and over the net.
When the ball cleared the net, it spun back over, and Granollers, in a bizarre move, caught it. Simultaneously, Koepfer's racquet slipped from his grip as he lunged forward in an attempt to play the ball on the opposite side of the net, exercising his right to do so.
As the umpire awarded the point to Granollers/Zeballos, leveling the match 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), confusion swept through the court.
Former Australia tennis player John Fitzgerald expressed his bewilderment during the commentary, questioning the umpire's decision. "Bemused – I don't know what happened there. This is not right, this can't be right. It's gone over, and Granollers grabs it – that's not set, that's not a point, that's a big mistake by the umpire here," Fitzgerald said in commentary as quoted by Wide World of Sports.
Fellow commentator Geoff Masters said the umpire needed to be able to see a replay.
"That needs to be replayed somewhere for the chair to see, because that's wrong."
Fitzgerald added: "He's interfered with Koepfer having a chance to put that ball away – legally, he can reach over. Koepfer is within his rights to go after that, and Granollers stopped him,"
Despite the controversial decision, the match continued, and fortunately for the umpire, Koepfer and Hanfmann clinched the third set, securing their spot in the quarter-finals.