"Fire this guy immediately" - Fans lash out at chair umpire for "blaming" Taylor Fritz over controversial call in heated exchange at Cincinnati Open

Taylor Fritz missing out on a point due to a technical error at the 2024 Cincinnati Open has left the fans fuming at chair umpire Greg Allensworth. The top-ranked American lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(4) to compatriot Brandon Nakashima in the opening round on Tuesday, August 13.

During a rally in the second set, a forehand from Nakashima was out (as confirmed later), stopping Fritz for a moment. However, since there was no call, the players continued playing. A few shots later, Allensworth stopped the point and asked for it to be replayed due to a technical error.

A visibly frustrated Fritz argued that the ball was out. Although the umpire agreed, he said he would've made a decision had the American stopped the point immediately. This further angered Fritz, who then questioned the purpose of the electronic line calling system. The World No. 12's appeal came to no avail as the point was replayed.

Fans were furious at the umpire for expecting Taylor Fritz to stop the play amid a technical error. They took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice their frustrations, with one fan questioning ATP why the American had to replay the point despite the umpire saying the ball was out.

"@atptour what is going on? This is wild. The chair umpire thought it was out, and replay shows the ball was out...yet Fritz has to replay the point instead of winning the point. Get this stuff figured out. @jon_wertheim," the fan wrote.

Another fan said Allensworth should be fired for 'blaming' Taylor Fritz for not stopping the point.

"What the hell… so the ump is blaming Taylor for .. him not doing his job. Fire this guy immediately," the fan wrote.

Here are some other reactions.

"I've seen a lot of things in tennis but this is one of the most ridiculous EVER. Tough to describe how bad the situation was and the umpire's answer to Fritz was probably the worst of the entire thing. Wow," a fan said.

"Disappointed in Nakashima as well, the convo went for 5 mins and he saw the point as well as the out point as well but his conscious didn't tell him to give up the point🤦‍♂️," a fan was disappointed.

"What IS the Point of the Chair Person If They CAN'T CALL THE BALL OUT, at the Time?!," a fan questioned.

"If the chair umpires can’t even do their job and electronic calls don’t work as they should, let’s just go back to line judges," a fan opined.

"They have to fix this, how can you tell the players they need to stop the point with electronic line calling. The umpire needs to be the one. They have gotten super complacent with this technology. He even admitted he thought it was out. Stop the point and get an answer," a fan demanded.

"So now we want players also being umpires," a fan asked.

"Imagine telling me I needed to stop" - Taylor Fritz on controversial line call decision

Taylor Fritz (Image Source: Getty)

After the match, Taylor Fritz took to social media to react to the umpire asking him to stop the point when there was an electronic line calling in use.

"Imagine telling me I needed to stop the point when we have literal Hawkeye electronic line calling 😂," he tweeted.

Fritz, who ended up winning the replay point, also clarified that he was not giving excuses and that the result of the match would have been the same.

"Side note- I don’t think this changes anything in the match considering I won the point replay so don’t take this as an excuse… just pointing out an insane call," he clarified.

Among the American men's players, World No. 14 Ben Shelton and World No. 15 Sebastian Korda could overtake 12th-ranked Taylor Fritz and 13th-ranked Tommy Paul, who was ousted by Flavio Cobolli in the opening round at the Cincinnati Open.