Frances Tiafoe took the first set of his National Bank Open first-round match against Milos Raonic with a forehand winner that brought out the rule book on Monday night.
Leading 13-12 in the ‘breaker, Tiafoe tracked down a Raonic shot that went off the net cord and answered with a flick forehand cross court that appeared to be a winner. However, chair umpire Fergus Murphy initially ruled that the American ran into the net before the ball bounced twice. Murphy quickly reversed that decision when he realized that Tiafoe touched the part of the net that is only used for doubles. Because the touch came outside the singles stick, it did not matter that it occurred before Tiafoe’s shot bounced a second time.
Following a brief discussion with supervisor chair umpire Jerry Armstrong, it was confirmed to be Tiafoe’s point–and with it the set.
A wild tiebreaker also included Tiafoe saving one set point with a brilliant forehand pass in addition to the world No. 10 hitting a backhand volley that bounced on Raonic’s side and spun back over the net onto Tiafoe’s side to win the point when the Canadian otherwise would have had an easy smash.
In total, Tiafoe saved three set points and had five of his own. The penultimate point of the tiebreaker was the only one that was won by the returner.
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