"Chair and supervisor should have been fired on the spot" - Craig Shapiro, Andy Roddick and others react to doubles drama at Australian Open
The 2023 Australian Open witnessed major drama on Friday during the women's doubles clash between the unseeded pairing of Alison Riske-Amritraj and Linda Fruhvirtova and the duo of Natela Dzalamidze and Alexandra Panova.
Played on Court 2, the first-round clash witnessed Riske-Amritraj hit the ball at one of her opponents in the heat of the battle in the second set. As a natural reflex, the American apologized, yelling out "sorry." The opponents didn't seem to mind it either, but the umpire awarded the point to Dzalamidze/Panova, claiming that Riske-Amritraj had committed a verbal hindrance.
Fruhvirtova and her partner protested to the umpire, reiterating that the hindrance rule shouldn't have come into play at all since the point was already theirs before she apologized. But the umpire did not reconsider, saying that in his opinion the ball had only hit the opponent's racquet.
Alison Riske-Amritraj then demanded that the match supervisor at the Australian Open be consulted. She went on to complain to the supervisor that the umpire was at fault and that the point was rightfully hers.
But the supervisor did not overrule the umpire either, sticking by his side and saying that his call would stand. More concerningly, the supervisor admitted that she wasn't watching the point and that she had to go by the chair umpire's interpretation of events.
That only helped agitate an already irate Riske-Amritraj, who went on to mock the chair umpire sarcastically and complain loudly to the supervisor again.
"That makes no sense. Dude. Oh, the way you see it? The way you see it? I'm sure you see it that way. That's ridiculous. That's absolutely ridiculous. Pay attention. Dude, that's tennis 101," she remarked with dripping sarcasm.
The video of the incident went viral on social media, with several fans and tennis players rushing to chastise the umpire and supervisor for their mistake. Brad Gilbert, Andre Agassi's coach at one time, could only say "wow" after looking at the mess that transpired.
"Wow," Gilbert tweeted.
Wow twitter.com/tunedintotenni…
Andy Roddick, on the other hand, had a lot to say. The American commented that the sound of ball hitting the player's body was unmistakeable and that he would have been able to make the right ruling even with his eyes closed.
Roddick also placed much of the blame on the opponent team, stating that they should have intervened when the umpire granted them the point.
"Also there was literally the thud sound of a ball hitting a body …. You didn’t need to see it. With my eyes closed, I could tell you what that sound is," Roddick said. "She should’ve agreed a little harder. Went pretty silent when it seemed like there was a point to be taken."
@bgtennisnation Also there was literally the thud sound of a ball hitting a body …. You didn’t need to see it. W my eyes closed I could tell you what that sound is
@randomcpa @bgtennisnation She should’ve agreed a little harder. Went pretty silent when it seemed like there was a point to be taken
Two-time US Open champion Tracy Austin also blamed the players for not speaking up. Austin wondered why the chair umpire never asked them if they got hit on the body instead of jumping to the wrong conclusion.
"The opponent that got HIT knows it right away because they STOP! Clear indication they knew it hit their body. Why doesn’t chair umpire ask that player?" Tracy Austin tweeted about the Australian Open incident.
The opponent that got HIT knows it right away because they STOP! Clear indication they knew it hit their body. Why doesn’t chair umpire ask that player? twitter.com/tunedintotenni…
World No. 55 Danka Kovinic was more critical of the chair umpire, stating that all he had to do to make the right decision in this era of electronic line-calling was staying awake.
"With electronic line calling, the only thing chair umpire has to do is to be awake during the match," Danka Kovinic tweeted.
twitter.com/tunedintotenni…With electronic line calling, the only thing chair umpire has to do is to be awake during the match‼️ twitter.com/tunedintotenni…
Tennis commentator and podcaster Craig Shapiro was stronger in his criticism, remarking that the chair umpire and supervisor should have been fired on the spot for their incompetence.
"Chair and supervisor should have been fired on the spot. Complete choke," commentator Craig Shapiro tweeted about the Australian Open incident.
Chair and supervisor should have been fired on the spot. Complete choke. twitter.com/tunedintotenni…
Here are a few more reactions:
Frustrating to see stuff like this happen 🤦♀️ twitter.com/tunedintotenni…
This is horrendous when it'd be so easy to make the right call (quick replay).
And the opponent staying quiet when she knows it hit her body is akin to those players who hit after a double bounce and claim "I don't know, I couldn't tell"
Pffffftttt.. twitter.com/TunedIntoTenni…
The supervisor/referee is literally sitting COURT side, and openly admits to not paying attention to the point…
What are you supervising then?
How are there no checks/balances for the rules to this stuff.
Just awful decision making that impacts athletes and their matches.
In this instance alone there’s like 5 different camera angles and none of them can rewind to see what ACTUALLY happened? Not just what the umpire claimed he did or did not see? @AustralianOpen
“WELL BUT THATS NOT THE RULE, CAROLYN!” Is the takeaway from this clip though 😂
@SirLazarus555 There are 752 Ultra high def cameras at these grand slam events. If I can tell what Rublev is eating during the cool down after his match…then a chair umpire needs to be able to see if a ball hit the body or not. It’s time.
@TunedIntoTennis Honestly I can’t tell based on the video if it hit them but the other team should’ve cleared it up. They should’ve been like “yeah it hit me” or “no it didn’t”. I know it’s not their job and they wanna win but I mean the girl who maybe got hit would know cuz this is ridiculous
@TunedIntoTennis "That's tennis 101". Absolutely. When you get a player like Alison Riske irate, then something wrong has gone on.
@TunedIntoTennis Why couldn't the girl just own up and say it hit her body? Not that she was contesting the point she immediately stopped playing?
@TunedIntoTennis @gabyserrar Atrocious. But also major junior cheater vibes for that player who didn’t call it on herself.
@TunedIntoTennis @tennis_gifs Oh gosh..... VAR like in soccer? 🤓
Fruhvirtova and Riske-Amritraj went on to win the match in three sets, reaching the second round of the Australian Open with a 6(4)-7, 6-4, 7-5 result. However, they could not go any further, losing 6-2, 6-2 to top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
Alison Riske-Amritraj receives apology from chair umpire for the incident at 2023 Australian Open
Alison Riske-Amritraj herself weighed in on the incident after spotting the video on Twitter, remarking that the blame was mostly with the player who got hit. The 32-year-old further revealed that the umpire apologized to her personally later at the Australian Open.
Riske-Amritraj went on to state that such poor sportsmanship and "cheating" was common in junior tennis. She also lamented that players and parents spend too much time and mental energy to be subjected to such things.
"She should have called it on herself & the umpire apologized for his incorrect ruling after, which I accepted. Poor sportsmanship and cheating happens all the time, especially at the junior level. Parents/players spend too much time, money & mental energy for that experience," she said.
She should have called it on herself & the umpire apologized for his incorrect ruling after, which I accepted. Poor sportsmanship and cheating happens all the time, especially at the junior level. Parents/players spend too much time, money & mental energy for that experience. 1/2 twitter.com/TunedIntoTenni…