Matteo Berrettini confronted chair umpire Aurelie Tourte when she called a let in the middle of a rally as the vibration dampener on Alexei Popyrin’s racket flew off and sailed across the court.
Berrettini had a 15-30 lead on Popyrin’s serve in the first game of set two. And he looked in control of the rally, but the ‘let’ call came just before Popyrin hit the ball. The Aussie sent it wide, but they replayed the point because of Tourte’s call.
Italian star Berrettini, who would have been awarded a break point if the umpire didn’t say anything, argued that it was “never” a let call. But it changed nothing. They replayed the point, and Popyrin held serve.
The Italian fans on Centre Court weren’t happy with the decision, whistling and booing as the let call came, and jeering again when Popyrin won the next point.