A scandal broke out during the quarter-final match between Cristian Garin and local hero Nuno Borges at the tennis tournament in Estoril. The referee acts in a questionable manner
Tennis scandal at the quarter-finals of the ATP tournament in Estoril: With the score 6:2, 2:3 and Borges with the advantage, the Chilean served. A subsequent forehand from Garin landed on the back of the baseline.
While Borges played the ball back, there was a shout from the crowd. Garin hit the subsequent ball out of bounds.
To the astonishment of everyone involved, the referee decided not to break Borges, but to award the point to Garin.
This infuriated Borges. “I didn’t make a mistake, why am I losing the point?” Borges asked the chair umpire. He explained that he could not replay the point and stood by his decision
Even when Borges spoke to the chair umpire and explained to him that Garin’s following forehand was out of bounds, the umpire did not revise his decision.
The tennis world number 62 insisted on the head umpire – but it remained deuce.
After that, the Portuguese crowd was fired up. Boos against Garin at every opportunity dominated the proceedings. When Garin shouted his joy after converting the match ball, he was met with whistles and disapproval from the stands
The full DRAMA in Estoril. BIG mistake from the Umpire during the Borges-Garin match ❌ pic.twitter.com/S4XdCnCyID
– Olly (@Olly_Tennis_) April 5, 2024
In the end, Garin won 6:2 7:6 in Portugal and was in need of an explanation: “He stopped the point. I stopped it too. I don’t know if it was a point for me or if we should have repeated it. The atmosphere was crazy afterwards and I’m very proud of myself. It was kind of annoying during the game… “