"Should have been fired years ago" - Nick Kyrgios reignites feud with chair umpire Carlos Bernardes over shocking scoring blunder at Shanghai Masters
Nick Kyrgios slammed Carlos Bernardes over an error the chair umpire made at the ongoing 2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters, which ultimately proved costly for veteran Stan Wawrinka. Kyrgios opined that Bernardes should not have been allowed to continue as an umpire from quite some time ago, possibly alluding to his own infamous run-in with the Brazilian official at the 2022 Miami Open.
Three-time Major winner Stan Wawrinka squared off against promising Italian youngster Flavio Cobolli at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Monday, October 7. The Swiss won the first set of the second-round clash 7-6(6) but lost the second 6-7(4), taking the match to a decisive third set.
It was the Italian who served first in the decider and won the opening game. He then went on to break Wawrinka's serve in the second game; the first and only service break of the match after more than two hours of play. However, the successful break of serve had a lot to do with chair umpire Carlos Bernardes' poor officiating.
The first point of the game should have gone to the Swiss after the Italian hit a wide return. Here, Bernardes called the score correctly but inexplicably awarded the point to Cobolli on the scoreboard. The Italian then won the next point, and the umpire called the score 0-30 in Cobolli's favor. It should have been 15-15.
More bizarrely, neither the players nor anyone in the crowd noticed the chair umpire's howler. However, those following the match closely from a distance were quick to point out the grave error via social media. Nick Kyrgios, a player who has previously found fault with Bernardes' officiating, took to X (formerly Twitter) and opined that the umpire should have been removed from his position much earlier.
"BERNARDES SHOILD OF [sic] BEEN FIRED YEARS AGO. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN. Potato," Nick Kyrgios wrote.
Kyrgios has a history with Bernardes. During his fourth-round loss to the now-World No. 1 Jannik Sinner at the 2022 Miami Open, the Brazilian umpire gave the Aussie a point penalty at a crucial juncture of the first-set tiebreak. The penalty stemmed from Kyrgios talking to a member of his team. Ultimately, Sinner went on to win both the first and second sets to oust Kyrgios from the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 event.
Meanwhile, the Aussie himself lost the plot following the point penalty and started shouting at the referee. Kyrgios also smashed a racket and was further penalized by Bernardes in the form of a game penalty.
Nick Kyrgios and Carlos Bernardes Miami Open 2022 feud: What was said in the immediate aftermath of the Aussie's loss?
Nick Kyrgios proceeded to voice his criticism towards Carlos Bernardes during a post-match press conference. The Aussie suggested that the Brazilian official failed to grasp the magnitude of the event when handing the point penalty to him.
"Literally, all I said to my team was I thought that Matthew Reid, an ex-tennis player, could do just as good a job in the umpire's chair. If that's worth a point penalty at 5-3 in the first-set tiebreak in the fourth round of Miami at a Masters event for hundreds of thousands of dollars, then that's for you to decide. But I think it's ridiculous, in my opinion," Nick Kyrgios said.
The former World No. 13 later aired his frustrations about Bernardes on social media as well, calling the Brazilian a 'joke' and opining that he isn't an umpire who is of the appropriate level for officiating a Masters 1000 match.