This is just one of the strangest things I have ever seen happen in a tennis match. I think it’s safe to say that Julie Kjendlie has had better weeks.
-Up 4-1 in the first set, Azarenka pounces on Errani’s 2nd serve and hits an unreturnable backhand that is initially called out.
-Azarenka challenges the call, and it is overruled. The ball was in.
-Kjendlie awards the point to Azarenka, but Azarenka doesn’t hear her do so, so they argue for a bit before the misunderstanding is cleared up.
-Once it becomes clear that Kjendlie is giving Azarenka the point, Errani begins to argue. She says that she got her racket on the ball, so the point should be replayed since the “out” call stopped her.
-Kjendlie tells Errani, “Maybe you did. I can’t remember.” Errani is bewildered. “You don’t remember? I touched the ball!” They exchange those sentences for a bit before Errani finally suggests that Kjendlie ask Azarenka for confirmation.
-So Kjendlie does. She calls over Azarenka, who is ready to move on. “Victoria, can you help me out?” (SERIOUSLY.) “If you can just say she touched the ball, then we can replay the point. I don’t remember her touching the ball.”
-The replay (that they cannot see on court) clearly shows that Errani got her racket on the ball, but was not in a position to hit it back because Azarenka’s shot was too good. However, the timing of the “out” call does make it slightly questionable.
-Azarenka asks if the call was late. Kjendlie once again says “I can’t remember.” The tournament supervisors come out to talk with her, and it seems like they just tell Kjendlie it is her call. (DUH.)
-Errani continues to argue that she touched the ball with her racket, and is exasperated that Kjendlie can’t remember. (Rightly so.) The crowd starts to get antsy, Azarenka is adamant that it’s her point, Kjendlie looks like a deer in headlights, the tournament supervisors have no clue what to say, and chaos is everywhere. “HOW COULD YOU NOT REMEMBER?” Errani shouts again.
-Eventually Errani realizes it’s hopeless, she laughs and goes back to serve again. She lost the match in straight sets.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an umpire lose control of a situation so quickly. On one hand, I give her props for admitting she can’t remember, because it’s her job to remember things like that. On the other hand, even if you can’t remember, you still have to keep order on the court. Don’t involve Errani, Azarenka, and the tournament directors in the decision. RIDICULOUS.
What do you guys think? Have you ever seen anything like that? How should Kjendlie have handled things?
(Thanks to @unseededlooming and @jakedavi5 for the heads up on this issue on twitter.)
Fernando says first, the Umpire states that she did not think the call was late, which would make the issue of whether Errani touched the ball with her racquet irrelevant.
Then, when Errani complains that Azeranka should not be awarded the point, the umpire says she can’t remember if Errani touched the ball which, besides being irrelevant if the call was not late, is preposterous becasue the event happened a minute before. No doubt the umpire lost her focus on the match and was daydreaming.
The umpire then exacerbated the entire situation by involving the players. She should have consulted with the lines person.
The umpire’s reasoning was illogical; she lost focus on the match; and then she improperly involved the players. Luckily, this was not an important moment in the match. These are serious delinquencies at this level. The Umpire needs to be reviewed.
I am Fernando @vivafernando
Firstly, Errani had no play on the ball. Even though she got her racquet on the ball, if the ball had even gone over the net, Azarenka was moving forward into the court for the no doubt soft reply and would have whacked it for a winner. Point, Azarenka.
If the point had been replayed, what would have been the difference. Errani still would have lost the match. She stood no chance against Vika with that 30 miles behind the baseline retrieving game. She has no weapons with which to hurt Vika and the last time I checked, Vika was the queen of consistency on the WTA Tour right now.
Lastly, even I who was watching the match forgot what had happened. Poor umpire was probably bored out of her skull with the owl hoots from one end of the court and the strangled gasp from the other end. The long meaningless rallies with no end in sight and just zoned out. It happens.
It is like the MTO from Australia. At the end of the day neither player stood a dog’s chance in winning the match, so why complain about one point that would not change the results in any way.