WATCH: Shocking Mistake From Umpire Steals Crucial Point From Tsitsipas

| by Sebastian Dahlman

Stefanos Tsitsipas was cruising towards a two-set victory against Lorenzo Musetti at the 2023 Barcelona Open but things took a pretty unexpected turn.

It appeared that the world no. 5 was controlling the match from start to finish, but a very controversial moment at the end of the second set certainly impacted him. Tsitsipas won the first set 6-4 and he had a match point against Musetti in the tenth game of the second set.

However, the Greek player couldn't use that and an important service game followed for him as he wanted to secure a possible tie-break in the second set to finish the match in two sets. However, a big mistake from umpire Nacho Forcadell overshadowed a very good match.

Tsitsipas was approaching a difficult volley on the net which Musetti aimed directly at his body and so the Greek had to quickly dodge the ball and place the racquet into the correct place. He managed to do that and put the ball over the net, but the umpire didn't agree.

According to Forcadell, the second seed hit the ball twice, calling a 'double touch' and giving a point to Musetti. As a replay clearly showed, that wasn't the case and Tsitsipas had nothing he could do about the situation.

WATCH: Massive Mistake By Umpire Steals Crucial Point From Djokovic
WATCH: Massive Mistake By Umpire Steals Crucial Point From Djokovic

He had to continue and it was the very game that he was broken in and eventually lost the second set 5-7. However, Tsitsipas continued to play great tennis and after two hours and 29 minutes, he won the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

But the moment in which the umpire made a shocking mistake surely impacted the match and it isn't the first time that a big mistake from an umpire had an impact on the outcome of the match. Paradoxically, it was just a couple of weeks ago when Novak Djokovic experienced the same thing, also in a match with Lorenzo Musetti.

The incident clearly advocates for a use of video review in tennis as umpires would surely appreciate this, because as any human being, they can also make mistakes but technology can give them a chance to correct those mistakes.

After the match, the Greek didn't want to focus on the fact that he was robbed off of crucial point during the match, but he praised his opponent's performance and marked the match as a very physical and difficult challenge.

“It was very physical out there. We had to cover lots of metres on the court and he had some incredible defensive shots that I really didn’t expect at all. It was such a mental challenge, I had to go out there and fight it all through [with] the determination of a lion, and just [went] out there to do the best I can. He’s a very difficult challenge, especially on this court, so it required a little bit more today.” 

On Sunday, the Greek will have a chance to win his first ATP title of the season as he'll take on Carlos Alcaraz in the final, which will be a rematch of their last year's quarterfinal meeting in Barcelona. Ahead of the match, Tsitsipas said:

“Getting myself out there for another chance [to win the Barcelona title], my will is strong and so is my heart. I go out there and give it a go and try the best I can. Nothing [negative] at all. Just enjoy this.” 

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