Frances Tiafoe of the United States lost an argument, and his mind, and also the match during Group D competition in the Davis Cup Finals on Thursday evening in Split, Croatia.
With Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands serving at 5-2 in the third-set tiebreaker, Tiafoe netted a forehand return but Griekspoor’s serve was called out. The Dutchman challenged, after which the ball was confirmed to have landed in. The chair umpire then ruled that the call had not impacted Tiafoe’s return and therefore the point was awarded to Griekspoor.
Now down quadruple match point at 2-6, Tiafoe engaged in a lengthy discussion with both the chair umpire and the supervisor. The 11th-ranked American eventually destroyed his racket. He had already incurred one code violation earlier in the match, so the second one resulted in a point penalty and gave Griekspoor the tiebreaker–and with it a 6-3, 6-7(7), 7-6(2) victory.
That result clinched the tie for the Netherlands, who also got a straight-set win for Botic van de Zandschulp over Tommy Paul. Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram at least managed to put Team USA on the scoreboard by winning the doubles rubber in three sets.
The United States will still clinch a spot in the Davis Cup quarterfinals this fall if it defeats Finland 3-0 on Saturday. Any other result could bring tiebreaker scenarios into play to determine the two qualifiers from Group D.
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