‘Outrageous’: Australian tennis player loses match after umpire confuses the score

Australian tennis player Astra Sharma has fallen victim to a serious umpiring blunder after the match official confused the score, making an error which led to the player’s loss.

The bizarre episode took place at the WTA’s Copa Colsanitas event in Colombia on Tuesday during the first-round encounter between Sharma and Italy’s Giulia Gatto-Monticone.

When the match was tied at 1-1 in the third set, the official made a drastic error that deprived the Australian of a chance to break her opponent.

Disastrous umpiring as @astrasharma isn't given the break of serve she deserved. Umpire calls score as 30-15 when it should have been 0-40 and from there it's one big mess. ???? pic.twitter.com/OzXvqqkiOP

— The Overrule (@theoverrule) April 6, 2021

Sharma was leading 30-0 on Monticone’s serve and won the next point, which should have given her 0-40 advantage.

However, for some reason the umpire confused the score, announcing that the Aussie player had a 30-15 lead.

The Italian won the next two points to save the game on her serve, before taking an overall three-set win against her Australian rival 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

This was outrageous... I was told he was not sure of the score but since I couldn’t tell him how I won the points I could not delay the match arguing with him https://t.co/uTbtsW2m2G

— Astra Sharma (@astrasharma) April 6, 2021

Sharma took to social media to express her anger over the umpire’s mistake, calling his actions “outrageous.”

“This was outrageous… I was told he was not sure of the score but since I couldn’t tell him how I won the points I could not delay the match arguing with him,” fumed the player.

Update: WTA supervisor said I should learn my lesson and focus more on the score instead of my tennis in the future ???? my confusion is not an excuse https://t.co/JbirOMzObE

— Astra Sharma (@astrasharma) April 6, 2021

The 25-year-old later clarified that she discussed the issue with the WTA supervisor, who told her that her “confusion is not an excuse,” and recommended that she “focus more on the score instead of my tennis in the future.”