Why did Frances Tiafoe win a controversial point vs Milos Raonic despite touching the net at Canadian Open? Everything to know about net-touching rule

Frances Tiafoe won the last point of the first set in his match against Milos Raonic in Toronto despite touching the net, confusing almost everyone watching the contest. It was later revelated that Tiafoe was awarded the point as he ran into the area between the net post and the singles stick, which is considered to be a permanent fixture.

Tiafoe and Raonic played out a thrilling two-hour and 42-minute encounter in the opening round of the Canadian Open on Monday, August 7. The first set was a tightly contested affair that had to be decided by a tiebreak. The last point of the set saw Tiafoe hitting a forehand just past Raonic before touching the net.

Chair umpire Fergus Murphy initially awarded the point to the Canadian before changing his mind and giving it to Tiafoe, making the whole situation complicated. Raonic, however, was more concerned about how many times the ball bounced before the American hit it.

Murphy then explained that the section of the net that the World No. 10 touched- between the net post and singles stick- did not count as a touch since it was a permanent fixture. Raonic was far from pleased with the Irishman's call.

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What is the rule about touching the section of the net between the post and the singles stick?

While players cannot generally touch the net until a point is over, the rule states that running into the portion of the net between the net post and the singles stick is allowed.

According to Section S of Chapter VII of the ATP rulebook, play will continue if the player runs into that area of the net after returning the ball to his opponent's court since it's considered a permanent fixture.

"Play continues. This part of the net is considered a permanent fixture," the rule states as per the ATP's official website.

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Milos Raonic's reaction to Frances Tiafoe winning the last point of the first set

Despite losing the first set, Milos Raonic bounced back to win the match 6-7(12), 7-6(4), 6-3 to book his place in the second round of the Canadian Open.

In his post-match press conference, the former World No. 3 was asked to comment about the controversial incident during the final point of the first set. In reply, Raonic stated that he wasn't sure if the decision to award the point to Frances Tiafoe was an honest one and added that the entire situation was not handled well.

"The line was that if it's past the singles sticks during a singles match, it's considered as a permanent structure, not the net. But I'm sure that if I hit a forehand that hit the top of that post on the doubles and it bounced across or it happened to me, they would count that as a a let," he said.

"So I don't have faith that they were being completely honest, but it is what it is. I think they just handled it badly, whatever the rule would have been. I just didn't think it was handled," he added.

After stunning Tiafoe, Raonic will next face Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel in the second round of the Canadian Open on Tuesday, August 8.