Umpire Jorge Diaz has come under fire following his horrendous overrule during Wayne Ferreira’s match against Tim Henman at Wimbledon last Saturday.
”The players here have complained about his arrogant manner on court and I understand the ATP Tour have had a quiet word with the ITF officials,”said South African Robbie Koenig from Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Koenig will be making his first appearance in the Davis Cup team when South Africa play Hungary at the Gloenkloof Tennis Stadium in Pretoria from July 12 to 14.
Ferreira and Henman were level at a set apiece with the South African leading 4-1 in the third set tie-breaker.
Ferreira’s shot landed in the far corner and a lineswoman, who was no more than a metre away from the baseline, indicated the ball was good.
Henman, however, pointed to the line and said the ball was out. Diaz, who was on the far side of court, only then overruled the linesman and declared the ball out making the score 4-2 instead of 5-1 to Ferreira.
Replays clearly showed Ferreira’s shot had hit the line and Diaz’s decision was clearly wrong. Henman went on to take the pivotal third set and then the match.
”Ferreira clearly got shafted,” said commentator John McEnroe, a person who had not been two complimentary to umpires during his playing days.
To the South African’s credit, despite protesting the overrule, he did not lose his cool although he must have been seething inside.
”We were all furious at the overrule because we all know how arrogant Diaz can be. There was a strong reaction from the press and the public after the match. In fact, on a phone-in programme, many people called for the use of electronic lines to be introduced,” said Koenig.
This is the second time in less than a year that Diaz has been involved in a Grand Slam controversy. At last year’s US Open, American Andy Roddick became the victim of a Diaz blunder during his quarter-final match against Lleyton Hewitt. Serving at 5-6 in the fifth set, with the game score at 15-15, Hewitt hit the ball wide, again on the far line, the linesman called it out and Diaz, from the far side of the court, overruled the call. Once again television replays showed the ball to be well out and Diaz well out of line.
Roddick totally lost his cool after that lost the next two points and the match. Asked whether umpires should be stopped from overruling on far lines, Koenig gave a definite no. ”When an error by the linesman it is blatantly clear, they should be able to step in. But only is they are 100% sure. ”The only other umpire who would overrule calls on the far line was Rudi Berger. The difference between him and Jorge Diaz is that Rudi was right.” – Sapa