"What a disgrace, robbed by poor umpiring and a dishonest Fabio Fognini" - Fans appalled by controversial line call during Dan Evans' Italian Open 1R

A wrong call by chair umpire Mohamad Lahyani claimed all the headlines of Fabio Fognini's first-round match against Dan Evans at the ongoing Italian Open. Fans expressed their shock at the controversy.

Italian wildcard entry Fognini put up a strong display in the first set to win it 6-4. The Brit made a comeback and won the second set convincingly with a 6-3 scoreline. The first-round clash went into the decider and Fognini asserted his dominance by earning a 3-1 lead.

The Italian was serving in the fifth game and Evans had earned a break point. A looping return from Evans created a sure-shot opportunity for Fognini to bring himself back into the game, however, his forehand volley was out.

Unexpectedly, umpire Lahyani called the ball in. Evans tried to convince the umpire that the ball had landed out but to no avail. Moreover, even Fognini entered the argument to claim the ball had landed inside the line.

Further controversy ensued when a video review confirmed that the ball was out. The point, however, was awarded to Fognini.

Tennis TV posted a video of the controversial decision on their X (formerly Twitter) handle.

"Big call at a big moment 👀"

Reacting to the same, fans expressed their disappointment with the decision, with one of them writing,

"What a disgrace. Evans was robbed by poor umpiring and a dishonest Fognini."

"That was not even close to the line wtf," wrote another.

"Miles out. That umpire always seems to be the one on the wrong side of bad decisions," claimed a third fan.

Several fans questioned Fognini's sportsman spirit.

"Shocking from Fognini there too! No sportsmanship when he knew it was out!" a fan remarked.

"Fognini is the WORST opponent to have in that situation. No chance he’d concede the miss haha," wrote another.

One fan claimed it is a norm that the local player gets the controversial calls in their favor.

"Funny how the local player ALWAYS win these points. ALWAYS. Never fails," they wrote.

Fognini won the controversial point and the deciding set 6-2 to advance into the second round.

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Fabio Fognini scheduled to face Taylor Fritz in the Italian Open 2R

Fabio Fognini at the 2023 French Open.

Taylor Fritz will be back in action in the second round of the Italian Open against Fabio Fognini.

The American is 7-3 on clay this season. He played a good tournament in Madrid where he reached the semifinal but lost to Andrew Rublev.

The World No. 13 faced issues with the density of clay in Madrid. It will be interesting to see how he performs against Fognini in front of the Italian's home crowd.