It's a real arbitration scandal that happened this Sunday evening during the final of the WPT Chile Open between Tapia / Coello on the one hand, Galan / Lebron on the other. As Tapia and Coello served for the match at 5/3, after winning the 1st set 6/4, an announcement from the referee stunned the whole stadium.

At 40/30 for Tapia/Coello, they won the point – and therefore the match – and began to celebrate their victory. But the referee then announced 40A and asked to play a punto de oro, claiming that the score was previously 30/40 (and not 40/30). Clearly, a double break point for Lebron / Galan instead of a match point.

Tapia and Coello confused

Furious and destabilized, Tapia and Coello failed to change the referee's mind. And impossible to go back to challenge a score announcement that left everyone stunned… Galan and Lebron, they accepted this gift from heaven without flinching.

With a heavy heart, Tapia and Coello finally had to resolve to play this punto de oro… and they lost it, restarting the match. And in the process, it was Lebron and Galan who won the decisive game, against completely confused opponents.
This event, which Canal + commentators described as a "big arbitration error", is likely to cause a stir, even if Tapia and Coello ended up winning 6/4 6/7 7/5, saving a match point in passing. This heartbreaking episode denotes an obvious lack of sportsmanship on the part of the world No. 1, who know very well that they had lost this match but took advantage of the windfall.

What happened

The point on which everything was decided was the one disputed at 5/3, 30A, when Coello made a winning smash just before the glass, not far from Galan. The referee apparently ruled that the ball had hit the glass first and awarded the point to the Spaniards, changing during the point according to the score initially indicated on the scoreboard: from 40/30, the score therefore became 30/40.

Coello and Tapia, having no doubt that they had won this point, did not pay attention to the oral announcement of the referee (30/40), covered by the noises of the public. They were therefore unable to contest this huge refereeing error…

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme fell into the padel pot in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves with a pala in hand! A journalist in Alsace, his only ambition is to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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