sara-errani-cincinnati-2014-2015-overrule

While waiting for the 2015 Western&Southern Open of Cincinnati to start, we give you one of the most infamoues videos of the whole tennis internet.

Among the countless records scored by our Sara Errani, there is also the one for being the victim of the worst overrule ever: in fact, during a very delicate moment of the match – 7-5, 3-6, 3-3 (40-40) – against the German Yanina Wickmayer, the umpire calls overrule on her serve. Apparently nothing weird so far, if it wasn’t for 2 “little” details: the first, the ball called out – and immediately double-checked thanks to Hawk-Eye technology – is IN of at least 2 inches. The second, the call occurred way later than the opponent’s return.

Now, rules state that – since the serve is IN and the return OUT – the point should be given to Errani. But here comes the second far more outrageous decision taken by the umpire: he said the point needs to be replayed, basing on the fact that – in his personal opinion – the call arrived before or at the same time Wickmayer’s return was occurring. If this was true – i.e. if the overrule came right after the serve’s bounce, that means before or simultaneously the next shot – the interpretation would be correct, since rules also state that the return – even if out – would not count due to the benefit of the doubt.

But…as you can all see, that was NOT the case.