"Worst year ever for umpires";"Should be a fine for Carlos Bernardes" - Fans upset as Stan Wawrinka 'robbed' of crucial point in Shanghai Masters loss

Fans were stunned as chair umpire Carlos Bernardes accidentally awarded a point to Falvio Cobolli instead of Stan Wawrinka during their second-round match at the 2024 Shanghai Masters. The two men engaged in a thrilling battle which saw the Italian staging a remarkable comeback against the Swiss legend to win 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-3.

There was only one break in the entire match, which came in the second game of the deciding set. The opening point of the game was won by Wawrinka. However, Bernardes, who was seemingly distracted asking for electrolytes for Cobolli, didn't register the point immediately.

The second point was won by the Italian and the umpire accidentally ended up registering both the points to the 22-year-old, helping him go up 0-30. The point would end up being decisive in the long run as Flavio Cobolli ended up winning that game.

What made the scenario bizarre was that none of the people involved realized the mistake Carlos Bernardes, who is set to retire from his career at the end of the season, had made.

Fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their astonishment at the controversy. One of the fans highlighted how 2024 hasn't been kind to umpires, seemingly alluding to the many controversial errors made during the North American hard-court swing.

"This has to be the worst year ever for umpires. Bizarre errors after bizarre errors every week," the fan commented.

Another fan called out Carlos Bernardes and demanded a fine for the umpire.

"Should be a fine for Bernardes. You can’t be making a mistake like that," the fan said.

Another fan couldn't comprehend how none of the parties recognized the error, especially Stan Wawrinka, who was wronged.

"Wawrinka robbed of a point here, don’t get how this happens in professional ATP tennis. Also don’t understand how Cobolli didn’t notice but especially how Wawrinka didn’t notice!!!"

Here are some other reactions from the fans.

"One of the strangest mistakes I can remember by an umpire. Even stranger that no one realized," a fan opined.

"If I'm in the crowd and realised the mistake, 100% I would disrupt the play between serves and say that the score is wrong. How does no one notice and speak up?" a fan pondered.

"Absolutely shocking that not one of Bernardes, Wawrinka, Cobolli, or any of the people on the players’ teams were able to catch this. WILD!" a fan mentioned.

After defeating Stan Wawrinka, Falvio Cobolli will face Novak Djokovic in the third round of the Shanghai Masters 2024

Stan Wawrinka (Source: Getty)

Flavio Cobolli, seeded 28th, received a bye in the opening round of the 2024 Shanghai Masters due to his seeding. After surviving the three-set thriller against Stan Wawrinka, the Italian will face another monumental task in fourth seed Novak Djokovic, in what will be the first meeting between the two men.

The Serb kicked off his campaign with a hard-fought 7-6(3), 7-6(9) win against Alex Michelsen.

The winner of their match will meet the winner of the match between 13th seed Frances Tiafoe and Roman Safiullin.