Tense moments give way to tense blunders sometimes in tennis, and that was on full display Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open outside Cincinnati. It came from an unlikely source, however: A chair umpire.
Sara Errani, serving at 3-all, deuce, in the third and final set, hit a serve against Yanina Wickmayer that appeared to drop squarely in the out-wide corner of the box. That's just what it did, as a Hawk-Eye replay confirmed, but Richard Haigh, from the chair, overruled the line judge's correct non-call after Wickmayer hit a forehand return wide. He then ordered the point be replayed—and summoned Errani's wrath.
To her credit, Errani, a 2012 French Open finalist, ultimately won the match by a score of 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (2), squeaking out four of the encounter's final seven games. She maintained her cool, generally speaking, after berating Haigh over his "unbelievable" call. And, indeed, it will likely go down as the worst call of this pro-tennis season.
Of course, this is hardly the first instance of a protracted verbal spat between player and chair umpire this year. Witness this scene Fabio Fognini made in Indian Wells in March:
Somewhere John McEnroe is beaming.
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