Women’s doubles tennis may not be the first thing that comes to mind when fans think of drama, but there was plenty of it during the doubles quarter-final at the WTA event in Portoroz.
Timea Babos of Hungary accused Alena Fomina-Klotzan of Kazakhstan of cheating during their meeting at the 2022 Portoroz Open. It was an important quarter-final match, and it turned out to be quite close, ending in three sets: 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 in favor of Fomina-Klotzan and her partner, Ingrid Gamarra Martins.
However, the match might have had a different outcome. In the final set, which was a super tie-break (first to 10), Fomina-Klotzan’s racket was struck by a ball, at least according to Babos.
According to the rules, this should have awarded a point to Babos and her partner, but the umpire missed the incident and awarded the point to the opposing team, leaving the Hungarian player visibly frustrated.
What further angered her was the fact that her opponent didn’t bring the incident to the umpire's attention and simply accepted the point. Babos expressed her frustration on social media, feeling that she and her partner would have won the match had that point been correctly awarded.
"Just sitting on the street in Portoroz right after the doubles match we lost. We had a super tiebreak 8-7 and my partner hit a backhand that touched the player's —Fomina's racquet, and from there, it went long. The umpire didn't see it and Fomina lied and cheated. Fair play doesn't exist anymore, I guess."
"And also, what was the chair umpire watching? We kind of lost our job today and they just go on with no penalty. Soon, I will post the video too. Congrats Fomina-Klotz. I hope you enjoy the victory with cheating."
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