"That's not how you give away a match", "Terrible call by the umpire" - Tennis fans divided over Frances Tiafoe's outburst in USA's Davis Cup tie

USA's Frances Tiafoe went off the rails during his decisive singles fixture against Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor. Tiafoe was handed a controversial point penalty at 2-5 down in the third-set tiebreak as he destroyed his racket following a dubious call from the chair umpire.

It ultimately cost the USA their Group D tie against the Netherlands by a margin of 1-2 at the Davis Cup Finals. The entire saga subsequently divided the tennis community on social media.

The World No. 11 got into a heated argument with the umpire while trailing his Dutch opponent 2-5 in the third-set tiebreaker. Griekspoor sent a powerful serve down the line but it was called out by a linesman just before Frances Tiafoe hit the ball into the net.

The call was then challenged by Griekspoor. The subsequent HawkEye challenge showed that the ball was in, fetching the Dutchman four match points.

Bewildered by the umpire's decision to give his opponent the point, Frances Tiafoe demanded the point be replayed. After a lengthy deliberation with the umpire and the tournament supervisor, he smashed his racket in anger. The move didn't help his case, though, as he was hammered with a point penalty while match-point down, ultimately costing him the match 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-7(2).

The incident divided fans' opinions on X (formerly Twitter). While one set of fans believed that Frances Tiafoe should've kept his composure, others said the American couldn't be blamed for his high-tempered reaction as the umpire's decision to not replay the point was wrong.

A fan named Diogo was not on the American's side, as they disapproved of how the singles match at the Davis Cup Finals ended.

"Even if Tiafoe was right on the call, that's not how you give away a match while representing your country," they wrote.

Another fan, however, sympathized with Frances Tiafoe. They asserted whether the World No. 11 deserved the point penalty was up for debate, but also insisted in the same breath that the umpire's poor officiating needed more appraisal.

"It was a bad call. If you pause at the start of the out call, it was well before Tiafoe swung and clearly could have affected him. Whether T's outburst warranted a point penalty is debatable, but it was clearly a bad call. Zero reason not to have video review for calls like this," they wrote.

Here are a few more divisive reactions from social media:

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Frances Tiafoe made his Top-10 debut earlier in 2023 but has experienced mixed fortunes since

Frances Tiafoe's title at the 2023 Stuttgart Open facilitated his top 10 debut

Frances Tiafoe dropped his second consecutive match at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals. He had earlier suffered a defeat in his first singles fixture against Croatia's Borna Gojo in straight sets. The loss, however, didn't hamper the USA as they took the tie 2-1.

While the American has been subpar this week, he has had a passable season in 2023. The 25-year-old has won 37 of his 54 matches on the ATP tour thus far. He has also managed to win titles on each of the three prevalent surfaces (hardcourt, clay, grass) this year, triumphing at the United Cup, the Houston Open, and the Stuttgart Open, respectively.

The title victories perhaps went a long way in helping Tiafoe crack the men's top 10 rankings for the first time in his career. The American's results in the best-of-three format have stagnated since then, though. He has dropped six of his last 10 matches in the shorter format.

Tiafoe also failed to defend his semifinal points from last year's US Open, suffering a loss to the unseeded Ben Shelton in the last eight in New York.