"Allergic to common sense" - Andy Roddick ridicules chair umpire's decision against Taylor Fritz over contentious call during Cincinnati Open loss

Andy Roddick recently criticized chair umpire Greg Allensworth for a controversial call that went against Taylor Fritz during the first round of the 2024 Cincinnati Open. Fritz and the umpire had engaged in a war of words following the call.

Fritz, who was seeded 11th in the ATP 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, suffered an opening-round defeat at the hands of fellow American and wild card entrant Brandon Nakashima, who won 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4).

The loss marked the former World No. 5's second disappointing performance in a row following his early exit at the Canadian Open, where he fell to compatriot Sebastian Korda in the second round.

The match between Taylor Fritz and Nakashima in Cincinnati was overshadowed by controversy when the chair umpire interrupted a rally in the second and asked for the point to be replayed. A forehand from the World No. 49 landed out (as confirmed later), leading to Fritz stopping briefly. However, the play continued as no call was made, only for Allensworth to stop the point after a few shots.

Taylor Fritz was visibly frustrated with the interruption and tried to reason with the chair umpire that he should have won the point as the tournament had an electronic line calling system in place.

Allensworth: If you would've stopped the point...

Fritz: Okay no wait, no no no no. Don't tell me that I need to stop the point when we have electronic line calling.

Allensworth: I know but that's how it works. You could have stopped the point and we could have looked at it then.

Fritz: I mean yeah if we didn't have electronic line calling, I stop. The ball was so far out. Why don't you stop it? You're in the chair. You saw that ball, it was like a foot out.

Allensworth: For me, I thought it was out too but I can't do that.

Fritz: It's actually ridiculous.

In response to the controversy, Andy Roddick took to social media to criticize the umpire's decision. He questioned Allensworth's judgment, saying:

"This is allergic to common sense."

Andy Roddick called out chair umpire over controversial line call during French Open 2024 final: "Players normally right"

Andy Roddick [Source: Getty]

During the 2024 French Open final, Andy Roddick criticized the chair umpire for a controversial line call decision.

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 to win his first French Open title. With this win, the Spaniard became the youngest man to win a Grand Slam on three different surfaces, having previously won the 2022 US Open on hard court and the 2023 Wimbledon Championships on grass.

During the summit clash, a line call went against Zverev, who couldn't challenge it due to the absence of the electronic line calling system at Roland Garros.

Reacting to the controversial call, Andy Roddick took to social media to express his support for the players' judgment on line calls. He asserted that Alexander Zverev had every right to be disappointed as the call was incorrect.

Roddick also suggested that implementing full-time electronic line calling could eliminate the need for umpires in matches.

"Players normally right. Shotspot showed Zverev saw mark correct way ……. Cant replace real life playing reps when reading marks correctly. Good riddance to these umpires trying. Bring in the machines full time," Andy Roddick wrote on X.

Andy Roddick had criticized another line call made by the umpire during the semifinals of the 2024 French Open.