Tennis is intense by nature, but drama always lurks around. Sometimes it’s between players. Sometimes it comes from a call by the umpire. Remember the US Open moment when Daniil Medvedev argued with chair umpire Greg Allensworth after he gave Benjamin Bonzi his first serve again because a cameraman interrupted? That debate halted the match for more than 10 minutes. While that was one headline moment, Athens saw another on Monday during Kamil Majchrzak’s clash with Miomir Kecmanovic.

The umpire in that match managed to make heads turn, too; when the Serbian was leading in the first set when the blunder took place. As journalist Jose Morgado reported on X, serving at 30-40, Kecmanovic ripped a backhand wide by nearly half a meter, yet the umpire called “deuce.” Though everybody was left confused, nobody said a word. A few points later, Miomir got broken anyway, making the entire mix-up pointless but unintentionally hilarious.

Eventually, the home favorite struck first. Both players held steady until the sixth game, when Majchrzak broke for a 4-2 lead. Kecmanovic hit back immediately to level at 4-4. The Serb pushed again in the 11th game, breaking for 6-5, but Majchrzak refused to fold and forced a tiebreak. Kecmanovic kept his cool there, sealing it 7-4.

Funny enough, this wasn’t tennis’s first scoreboard error. A similar blunder hit the 2024 Shanghai Masters when Carlos Bernardes called the score wrong during Stan Wawrinka’s match with Flavio Cobolli. Wawrinka and Cobolli had split the first two points, but Bernardes announced “0-30” instead of “15-15.” Neither player noticed. The wrong call turned costly as Wawrinka lost serve off that point and eventually dropped the match.

Coming back to the Athens Open, Kecmanovic carried his momentum into the second set. While he was racing ahead 3-0, Majchrzak clawed back to even things at 4-all. But the Serb kept his edge when it mattered most, trading breaks in the decider and stepping up again in the tiebreak to close it out 7-4. Winning the match into the next round of the ATP 250. However, the error of the umpire still became a highlight and lately, looks like the umpires are taking the spotlight during matches.

ATP pros call out umpires during their matches

Last month at the Austrian Open in Vienna, Daniil Medvedev found himself in the spotlight again, and not for the reason he’d hoped. The 2021 US Open champion was battling Corentin Moutet, who eventually stunned him 7-6(3), 6-4. But the real drama came in the opening-set tiebreak when Medvedev got into another heated argument with the umpire. After winning a long rally to make it 2-1, he took a few extra moments to regroup before serving again.

That pause didn’t sit well with chair umpire Fergus Murphy, who handed Medvedev a time violation. The call cost him two points, leveling the score at 3-3, and sent the Russian over the edge. At the changeover, Medvedev exploded. “How was I supposed to go from here to there? I didn’t even ask for the towel,” he yelled. “Maybe you can use little bit of your IQ; I was at the net. Maybe you can use your brain; I know the system calls everything, but you could use your brain.” Murphy calmly replied, “I do.” The Russian fired back, “No, you don’t. I don’t know if you don’t want to try or if you can’t; I don’t know which of the two options is the right one. I have my opinion, but I won’t tell you.”

Turns out, Daniil wasn’t the only one losing patience that week. Even World No. 1 Jannik Sinner had a fiery moment with Fergus Murphy during his semifinal against Alex de Minaur. A post on X by @alexiuss11 captured the tense exchange after Sinner received a time-violation warning. The Italian had paused his serve because of a noisy crowd, waiting for things to settle before continuing. Still, Murphy hit him with the violation, and Sinner wasn’t happy about it, arguing that he was just trying to manage the chaos around him.

Now this incident at the Athens Open, adds to the drama around umpire calls. Although the situation was corrected, the tension from these past clashes still lingers. Looking ahead, Miomir Kecmanovic now faces Italian Luciano Darderi next. Will he keep his cool and make a deep push toward the final? Drop your thoughts in the comments!