WTA Eastbourne: Karolina Pliskova is a fury against the umpire!

The former world number one loses the challenge also due to an almost incomprehensible oversight by the judges


by LORENZO CIOTTI

WTA Eastbourne: Karolina Pliskova is a fury against the umpire!

It was an incredible what happened during the round of 16 at the WTA 500 in Eastbourne, which represents the last grass-court preparation tournament for women before the start of Wimbledon. The match between Karolina Pliskova and Daria Kasatkina was also decided by a sensational umpire oversight, which greatly affected the Czech tennis player.

In the decisive third set, on the occasion of a very delicate point, the Russian's forehand ended up quite clearly long but the touch judges and the umpire did not call the ball out. The former world number one, convinced that the ball hadn't touched the baseline in any way (also indicating the sign), even stopped.

No one intervened to stop the game and, at that point, Kasatkina sent the ball to the other side of the net again with a winning forehand and earned the opportunity to break (later exploited). The 31-year-old was incredulous and at the change of court she threw her racket against the chair umpire's position, albeit not violently, receiving a warning.

The 26-year-old defended her lead and got through to the quarterfinals of the competition. There are several enthusiasts who immediately noticed the curious situation.

Some tennis players also intervened on social networks, who joked about the issue. This is the case of Liam Broady, who joked on Twitter: "Everyone went out last night!? What happened today." US player Tennys Sandgren reacted to the Briton's post with this comment: "I swear it happened in Maui once."

The other results in Eastbourne

The only precedent between Camila Giorgi and Ons Jabeur had been played on cement in Linz in 2014, when the Tunisian had not yet shown all her talent.

Precisely for this reason, the second victory obtained by Giorgi in the round of 16 of the WTA 500 tournament in Eastbourne takes on a special meaning. The Italian won with a score of 6-3, 6-2. Neither of them held serve in the first six games of the dispute: Giorgi took care of interrupting the breaks in the seventh game.

Jabeur didn't do the same and surrendered to a deadly running forehand from Giorgi. A winning response immediately brought the Italian forward in the second set. The Italian never made a mistake in serving and signed the second break.

She continues to win Jelena Ostapenko, Giorgi's next opponent. After the title won in Birmingham, the Latvian will play the quarterfinals in Eastbourne thanks to the clear success obtained against Harriet Dart. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula also advance.

The Americans defeated Jodie Burrage and Camila Osorio, respectively.

Wta Eastbourne Karolina Pliskova