"Chair and supervisor should have been fired on the spot" - Craig Shapiro, Andy Roddick and others react to doubles drama at Australian Open

The 2023 Australian Open witnessed major drama on Friday during the women's doubles clash between the unseeded pairing of Alison Riske-Amritraj and Linda Fruhvirtova and the duo of Natela Dzalamidze and Alexandra Panova.

Played on Court 2, the first-round clash witnessed Riske-Amritraj hit the ball at one of her opponents in the heat of the battle in the second set. As a natural reflex, the American apologized, yelling out "sorry." The opponents didn't seem to mind it either, but the umpire awarded the point to Dzalamidze/Panova, claiming that Riske-Amritraj had committed a verbal hindrance.

Fruhvirtova and her partner protested to the umpire, reiterating that the hindrance rule shouldn't have come into play at all since the point was already theirs before she apologized. But the umpire did not reconsider, saying that in his opinion the ball had only hit the opponent's racquet.

Alison Riske-Amritraj then demanded that the match supervisor at the Australian Open be consulted. She went on to complain to the supervisor that the umpire was at fault and that the point was rightfully hers.

But the supervisor did not overrule the umpire either, sticking by his side and saying that his call would stand. More concerningly, the supervisor admitted that she wasn't watching the point and that she had to go by the chair umpire's interpretation of events.

That only helped agitate an already irate Riske-Amritraj, who went on to mock the chair umpire sarcastically and complain loudly to the supervisor again.

"That makes no sense. Dude. Oh, the way you see it? The way you see it? I'm sure you see it that way. That's ridiculous. That's absolutely ridiculous. Pay attention. Dude, that's tennis 101," she remarked with dripping sarcasm.

The video of the incident went viral on social media, with several fans and tennis players rushing to chastise the umpire and supervisor for their mistake. Brad Gilbert, Andre Agassi's coach at one time, could only say "wow" after looking at the mess that transpired.

"Wow," Gilbert tweeted.

Andy Roddick, on the other hand, had a lot to say. The American commented that the sound of ball hitting the player's body was unmistakeable and that he would have been able to make the right ruling even with his eyes closed.

Roddick also placed much of the blame on the opponent team, stating that they should have intervened when the umpire granted them the point.

"Also there was literally the thud sound of a ball hitting a body …. You didn’t need to see it. With my eyes closed, I could tell you what that sound is," Roddick said. "She should’ve agreed a little harder. Went pretty silent when it seemed like there was a point to be taken."

Two-time US Open champion Tracy Austin also blamed the players for not speaking up. Austin wondered why the chair umpire never asked them if they got hit on the body instead of jumping to the wrong conclusion.

"The opponent that got HIT knows it right away because they STOP! Clear indication they knew it hit their body. Why doesn’t chair umpire ask that player?" Tracy Austin tweeted about the Australian Open incident.

World No. 55 Danka Kovinic was more critical of the chair umpire, stating that all he had to do to make the right decision in this era of electronic line-calling was staying awake.

"With electronic line calling, the only thing chair umpire has to do is to be awake during the match," Danka Kovinic tweeted.

Tennis commentator and podcaster Craig Shapiro was stronger in his criticism, remarking that the chair umpire and supervisor should have been fired on the spot for their incompetence.

"Chair and supervisor should have been fired on the spot. Complete choke," commentator Craig Shapiro tweeted about the Australian Open incident.

Here are a few more reactions:

Fruhvirtova and Riske-Amritraj went on to win the match in three sets, reaching the second round of the Australian Open with a 6(4)-7, 6-4, 7-5 result. However, they could not go any further, losing 6-2, 6-2 to top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

Alison Riske-Amritraj receives apology from chair umpire for the incident at 2023 Australian Open

Alison Riske-Amritraj revealed the Australian Open umpire apologized to her later

Alison Riske-Amritraj herself weighed in on the incident after spotting the video on Twitter, remarking that the blame was mostly with the player who got hit. The 32-year-old further revealed that the umpire apologized to her personally later at the Australian Open.

Riske-Amritraj went on to state that such poor sportsmanship and "cheating" was common in junior tennis. She also lamented that players and parents spend too much time and mental energy to be subjected to such things.

"She should have called it on herself & the umpire apologized for his incorrect ruling after, which I accepted. Poor sportsmanship and cheating happens all the time, especially at the junior level. Parents/players spend too much time, money & mental energy for that experience," she said.