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The 2024 season delivered not only success stories but also on-court drama. Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe, and other top players were embroiled in controversies with umpires that created a massive buzz.
Contentious decisions from chair umpires also saw the likes of Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Novak Djokovic, Jelena Ostapenko, and Carlos Alcaraz engage in heated arguments with their chair umpires. On that note, let’s look at five of the biggest player-umpire controversies that rocked the tennis world this season.
#1 Coco Gauff's agony after extended argument with chair umpire in Dubai
It wasn’t until the tail end of 2024 that Coco Gauff rediscovered her form on the court. After starting the season with a successful title defense at the ASB Classic, the American staged some forgettable runs, a few of them marred by controversies.
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One such incident occurred during her Round of 16 win against Karolina Pliskova at the Dubai Tennis Championships. Gauff hit a valid serve that wasn’t successfully returned by Pliskova. However, the serve was then wrongly called a "fault" by the line umpire, a decision Coco Gauff contested. The video replay confirmed that her serve had landed in. However, the chair umpire, Pierre Bacchi, awarded Gauff another first serve instead of offering her the point.
A prolonged argument ensued over his controversial decision, and the tennis player was on the verge of tears. Bacchi remained adamant about not bringing in the supervisor despite Gauff’s repeated request, thus escalating the tension.
"You’re gonna owe me. After the match, when you watch the video, you’ll apologize," Coco Gauff said, fighting back tears.
#2 Andrey Rublev's Dubai disqualification after verbal attack on line umpire
It wasn’t just Coco Gauff’s confrontation that grabbed the spotlight at the Dubai Tennis Championships this season. In the men’s edition of the tournament, Andrey Rublev faced dire consequences following his outburst at a line umpire.
During the final moments of his tightly contested semifinal against Alexander Bublik, Rublev believed one of his opponent’s long shots was missed by the line umpire. The rally continued and eventually went Bublik’s way.
The former World No. 5 was infuriated by the seeming no-call and charged at the umpire, reportedly yelling, ‘f**king moron,’ directly at him. After much deliberation, Andrey Rublev was disqualified from the tournament on the grounds of “unsportsmanlike conduct” by chair umpire Miriam Bley. He was stripped of his ranking points and prize money. However, the player successfully appealed the decision in the days that followed. His earnings and points were eventually reinstated.
#3 Daniil Medvedev escaping disqualification despite yelling at chair umpire during Wimbledon SF
While Andrey Rublev suffered harsh punishment after his on-court outburst, Daniil Medvedev was seemingly excused for hostility against chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore during his Wimbledon semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz.
After losing his break advantage in the first set due to a double bounce, Medvedev took out his frustrations on Asderaki-Moore, seemingly saying, “F**k you, f**k you, f**k you, you piece of sh*t.” The chair umpire immediately called the supervisor to inform him about the former World No. 1’s verbal attack. However, Medvedev was merely slapped with an “unsportsmanlike conduct” code violation, and the high-stakes match continued.
#4 Coco Gauff's tears on court Philippe-Chatrier during Paris Olympics
Coco Gauff yet again had a disagreement with the chair umpire (Jaume Campistol), this time at the 2024 Paris Olympics. While serving in the second set of her Round of 16 match against Donna Vekic, the latter successfully returned Gauff’s serve, but the American failed to keep the ball in play, thanks to a faulty forehand shot. At the same time, though, a line umpire wrongly called Vekic’s shot long, a decision that was later overturned by Campistol.
Coco Gauff demanded a replay due to hindrance, but the chair umpire insisted that her shot wasn’t affected by the line call and gave Vekic the point. This did not sit well with the World No. 3, who dealt with a similar situation on court Philippe-Chatrier during her 2024 French Open match against Iga Swiatek.
She burst into tears while protesting the umpiring, which led to an intervention from the supervisor.
"I feel like I'm getting cheated constantly in this game. This is the 3rd time this happens to me this year," Coco Gauff said. "It always happens to me on this court. Call the supervisor. It always happens to me, every time."
#5 Frances Tiafoe's verbal onslaught in Shanghai
Recently, Frances Tiafoe was in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. During the final moments of his Round-of-32 match against Roman Safiullin at the Shanghai Masters, Tiafoe received multiple time violations for delaying his serve. Moments after he crashed out a final-set-tiebreak loss, the American lashed out at the chair umpire (Jimmy Pinoargote) for his controversial decisions.
"F**k you, man! F**k you. Seriously, man," Frances Tiafoe yelled, repeatedly.
Tiafoe was reportedly handed a massive $120,000 fine for the expletive-ridden outburst.
