Three challenges in the same game, and all three of them absolutely correct. Extraordinary scenes were witnessed at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Stadium on Monday when Andy Murray defeated Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in a hard-fought battle in the first round. This victory marked the 500th hard-court win for the Brit. But more than the victory, it was the repeated wrong calls from the chair-umpire that came into the limelight.

American tennis star Nicole Melichar-Martinez took to X(formerly Twitter) to highlight that incident and make a desperate plea to both the WTA and ATP. What did she say?

American tennis pro shares Andy Murray’s agonies on the court in Dubai

Although Murray managed to defeat the Canadian by 4-6,7-6(5),6-3 in a 2-hour 32-minute encounter, he looked utterly irritated with the umpiring during the match. The controversial moment came in the opening game of the second set during Murray’s serve. First, his serve was called long and the chair umpire didn’t overrule the decision. Later on, Murray challenged it and the replay clearly showed it was in. Second was a similar incident. While, during the third, an out ball was called in by the officials.

The British tennis star looked in disbelief after his third challenge also turned out to be a correct one. No wonder Andy Murray was trying his luck while taking a ride in the umpire’s electronic chair in Shanghai last year. Sharing the clip of that incident in Dubai on her Twitter account, Nicole Melichar-Martinez wrote, “This is exactly why we need LIVE line calling…”

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However, this isn’t the first time Pierre Bacchi has been in the headlines for his bizarre calls. He did the same during the third-round match featuring Coco Gauff at the Dubai Tennis Championships a few days ago. The 19-year-old American tennis star was also in a heated exchange with him over a controversial call.

“Call the supervisor” – Coco Gauff faced a similar situation involving the same chair umpire

A few days ago, Bacchi called a ‘fault’ during Coco Gauff’s serve which later showed to be clearly in by the Hawkeye. He refused to give point to Gauff, and instead asked her for another first serve. Coco Gauff looked disappointed with the call and was seen saying, “Call the supervisor. I am not playing until you call the supervisor. I’m gonna ask her the rule. You don’t know the answer. My right is to question.”

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Although he refused to do so, the match was continued. Gauff later spoke to the media at the post-match press conference and revealed that the incident ‘fueled’ her to play. She was even seen asking Bacchi to apologize to her after the match during the heated exchange.

American tennis legend, Andy Roddick came in support of the 19YO and called it to be an ‘absurd exchange for this umpire.’ What are your thoughts on Pierre Bacchi and his repeated infamous calls?

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