Storm Hunter at centre of ugly tennis ruling in Dubai tournament
The Aussie was left baffled when speaking to both her opponent and chair umpire.
Aussie tennis star Storm Hunter has been left bewildered after she lost a point at the Dubai Tennis Championships after she thought a 'let' call from another court was directed at her serve. Hunter followed up her strong Australian Open form - which saw her reach the third round - to qualify for the main card in Dubai.
And the 29-year-old was up against Russian Anna Kalinskaya in the first round of the tournament when drama struck. A break of serve down, Hunter needed to hold to stay in the set. And upon serving, a let call could be heard around the outside court.
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Kalinskaya returned the shot directly at Hunter and the Australian just sliced the ball back to the ball girls and boys. She then went to collect another ball for her two serves believing the serve was a let. Although, Kalinskaya approached the chair umpire and suggested it wasn't a let and she had won the point.
The chair umpire agreed and spoke to Hunter and told the Australian he had not called let. Hunter looked confused as the announcement from an adjacent court had prompted her to think it was a let.
Storm Hunter entend "Let, first serve" dans un timing concordant parfaitement avec son service et s'arrête donc de jouer.
Sauf que cela vient d'un court à côté et Anna Kalinskaya, qui mène 4-1, 0-15 dans le premier set, prend le point. Moche.pic.twitter.com/mJBhd7TUk8— Tennis Legend (@TennisLegende) February 19, 2024
"A little bit of confusion here...that is difficult, it does happen," the commentator said. "Storm Hunter obviously heard something she thought he had said." There was more confusion as Hunter then spoke to the chair umpire over what just happened and why the point couldn't be replayed.
Hunter then asked Kalinskaya if she was wanted to accept the point, even though she won it due to a mix-up. And Kalinskaya said she did want the point and moved into position for the next point. Hunter ended up losing the game and went on to lose the match in straight sets.
While the incident is rare in tennis, fans were all in support the 'let' call from the other court was off putting for the Australia. Most agreed either Kalinskaya should have showed sportsmanship and allowed a replay of the point, or the chair umpire intervened.
Umpire should intervene here as it clearly hinderance from outside. I don't usually blame umpires as I know from experience that it's a hell of a job. But here you just need to step up for the integrity of the game.
— Frank van der Weck (@FvdWeck) February 19, 2024
Yeah that's poor from both the umpire and Kalinskaya
— Fraser (@FraseSmith7) February 19, 2024
Super super poor sportsmanship
— Xavier Tee (@xavier22) February 19, 2024
To be fair to Kalinskaya, if the umpire has called it her point why would she disagree? I’m not sure many would (and she played the return properly as if it was in play herself).
— Nick Ed (@NickEd82) February 20, 2024
Storm Hunter enjoys strong Australian Open campaign
Hunter enjoyed a breakout summer having made it into the third round of the Australian Open singles draw, before falling to Barbora Krejcikova in the third round. She was up a set against the World No.12, before falling in a thriller. Her campaign came to an end when she was knocked out of the women's doubles in the semi-finals.
Hunter was ranked as the World No.1 in doubles, but her Australian Open exit has seen her drop to World No.3. The 29-year-old is currently 8-2 in singles competitions this year as she looks to improve her ranking to inside the top 100.
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