FRancis Tiafoe and Milos Raonic starred in one of the first great matches of the sixth Masters 1,000 of the season, the one in Toronto, which ended with the victory of the local tennis player after almost three hours of play and a controversial point that was decisive for the first set he played. that some of the tennis fans discovered a little-known rule.
But beyond the result, there was a play that went around the world due to the controversy that it entailed and the outcome of it.
With the score at 13-12 in the tie-break of the first set in favor of Tiafoe, the American served to win the first set and he ended up doing it but not without controversy. After a long rally, Tiafoe reached a ball that stayed dead on the track after touching the tape, he managed the passing but after that he leaned on the net, something that is prohibited in the regulations.
The chair umpire, Fergus Murphy, did not hesitate for a moment and first signaled a free kick and a point for Raonic, but immediately corrected his decision by giving the point to Tiafoe, which caused the Canadian to protest. It was there that the referee explained that the touch on the net had taken place between one of the posts that hold the net and the line of the singles field, therefore within the doubles area that is considered outside the field of play.
“Wait, this is complicated… This part of the net does not count as a touch,” he told both players, who were waiting for the decision at the net. The explanations were also joined by referee Tony Cho: “Tiafoe touched the net in the area between the singles stick and the post. This area is considered a permanent fixture, so it is not part of the net.”
