An unusual error by the referee at the Shanghai Masters 1000 tournament, which became a key error in the result

The Shanghai Masters 1000 leaves endless anecdotes on the ATP circuit, and after controversy over the Jannik Sinner affair and the controversial gesture Daniil Medvedev made with the ball, The referee for the match between Flavio Cobolli and Stan Wawrinka, Carlos Bernandez, misjudged a point after being distracted, and the Italian ended up winning the match by breaking his opponent’s serve in said game. The final score was 6-7(8), 7-6(4) and 6-3.

The match of the second round of the competition took place in sparkling form on the central court. The first set fell to the Swiss, who began to leave flashes of quality, as in his best years, which allowed him to take the third step of the ATP rankings. Despite winning, they lost the second set and with high expectations, both players decided to decide the match in a tiebreaker.

But the evening’s controversy began early in the final set. After the Italian won the opener with a serve in his favor, Wawrinka earned the first point after a good serve that Cobolli couldn’t quite return and sent the ball out of bounds. The referee immediately asked for electrolytes for Flavio and completely ignored the match.

The battle continued, with the 30th ranked player claiming another point after a big fall that the Swiss were unable to resolve. There the official scoreboard showed 30-0 in favor of Cobolli, when in fact it should have been 15. Where was the mistake? Bernandez never credited the goal to Wawrinka and credited it to the opponent. Thus, the Italian began to direct the game in his favor and managed to turn it around.

From that moment on, things became more difficult for the experienced 39-year-old tennis player and he began to have problems due to the play of his opponent. After 2 hours and 30 minutes of play, the match ended in victory for the native of Florence and, There was only one break in the entire match: in a game in which the referee scored a point in favor of the winner.

The match also created a special situation for the entire tennis world, since a side of Stan was visible that had never been obvious on the ATP circuit.. The Swiss, who had suffered a significant decline in his level due to serious injuries and had not won two victories in a row in 13 months, broke his racket after losing a point and appeared very angry about the situation. This event in the third set brought out the Swiss’s inner rage and how it expressed itself in the face of impending defeat.

Thanks to this result, In the third round in Shanghai, Corbolli will face another historic opponent: Novak Djokovic. The Serbian had just won in straight sets against Alex Michelsen and returned to the tournament after a five-year absence. At the same time, he will try to win the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, achieve his 100th career title and secure a place at the Masters Tournament in Turin.

In turn, other tournament favorites are Carlos Alcaraz And Jannik Sinner. After a duel in the grand final which was decided in favor of the Spaniards in Beijing, Charlie advanced to the next round after defeating Wu Yibing and will face the winner of Gael Monfilis or Hugo Humbert. The Italian beat Argentine Tomas Echeverri in three sets and is waiting for Roberto Carballes Baena or Ben Shelton.