Frances Tiafoe of the United States lost an argument, and his mind, and also the match during Group D competition in the Davis Cup Finals on Thursday evening in Split, Croatia.
With Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands serving at 5-2 in the third-set tiebreaker, Tiafoe netted a forehand return but Griekspoor’s serve was called out. The Dutchman challenged, after which the ball was confirmed to have landed in. The chair umpire then ruled that the call had not impacted Tiafoe’s return and therefore the point was awarded to Griekspoor.
Now down quadruple match point at 2-6, Tiafoe engaged in a lengthy discussion with both the chair umpire and the supervisor. The 11th-ranked American eventually destroyed his racket. He had already incurred one code violation earlier in the match, so the second one resulted in a point penalty and gave Griekspoor the tiebreaker–and with it a 6-3, 6-7(7), 7-6(2) victory.
That result clinched the tie for the Netherlands, who also got a straight-set win for Botic van de Zandschulp over Tommy Paul. Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram at least managed to put Team USA on the scoreboard by winning the doubles rubber in three sets.
The United States will still clinch a spot in the Davis Cup quarterfinals this fall if it defeats Finland 3-0 on Saturday. Any other result could bring tiebreaker scenarios into play to determine the two qualifiers from Group D.
tough one for Big Foe
ugh…not the way you want things to end. Not good.
He didn’t have a play on it, and the call came less then a millisecond before he swung at the ball, so the umpire is right.
That’s probably one of the most obvious ones where the player didn’t have a play on the ball.
Not sure what the argument was there. He was probably just pissed he knew he was going to lose.
Griekspoor has been in career-best form this year and avenged his loss in Washington.
The umpire just rubbed his nose in it though. Game, set and match, Netherlands.
A war is brewing people. That wasn’t about that call.
It’s never a good sign when there is so much friction between the US and their European counterparts. You would think these matches would be played in good spirit for geopolitical reasons. Not on this occasion, obviously.
Difficult – the two sides of Big Foe. Still love him.
Looks like Tiafoe has been dropped for this round. Richard Haigh is umpire for this one, also, that could be why.
There’s no way Tiafoe loses that match after losing to Griekspoor. Poor decision making.
They didn’t pay Tiafoe because they had to make a statement that it was unacceptable, regardless of the result.
Most likely someone high up made the call.
Regardless of the outcome of this round.
Tough loss for USA. On current form, should’ve gone close to winning the cup.