ATP Tour 2020: Wackiest moments from this year

ATP Tour 2020: Wackiest moments from this year
Roger Federer Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic Daniil Medvedev
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Medvedev

The 2020 tennis season witnessed the cancellation of many events due to the coronavirus pandemic. The season was halted for three months from March-June. However, that did not mean that were no wacky moments on the ATP tour this year.

There were several wacky moments for the fans to witness this year, which includes the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Some were controversial while others were funny in some respect. One of the moments was when Novak Djokovic was playing against Dominik Koepfer in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open, when the chair umpire called out Federer’s name instead of Novak Djokovic.

“Game Federer,” chair umpire wrongly calls out Roger Federer’s name

At the Italian Open 2020, Novak Djokovic was playing Dominik Koepfer. Koepfer hit a double fault which gave Djokovic the break. As the two players were walking back towards their respective chairs, the chair umpire wrongly called out Federer’s name and said “Gioco Federer,” which means Game Federer. It was slip of tongue for the chair umpire as he had to call out Novak Djokovic’s name instead.

Novak Djokovic would later go on to win the quarterfinal match and claim the title at the Italian Open, defeating Diego Schwartzman in the final.

A controversial moment took place at the Rio Open when Alejandro Davidovich Fokina hit an underarm serve against Seyboth Wild. Wild argued that he was not ready for the point and an argument followed with the chair umpire. Eventually, the point was awarded to Fokina.

Djokovic denied a point

Novak Djokovic 1
Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic was involved in another incident, this time he lost his cool as he was denied a point. The Serbian was playing a doubles match at the ATP Cup in Australia, when he hit a volley to end the point. However, the video footage clearly showed the Serbian’s racquet going on the other side of the net, which made it a foul shot.

Novak Djokovic argued with the chair umpire, but to no avail. The chair umpire was spot on with her decision as the video clearly showed his racquet going on the other side of the court, which is considered a foul shot in tennis.

On the up, but Daniil looks down

Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev

Another moment which was worth noting was the final point in the match between Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev at the Nitto ATP Finals. Having a match point in the semifinal, Daniil Medvedev had incredible fortune in the last point of the match, as the ball touched the net and dropped in Rafa’s half of the court.

The Russian breathed a huge sigh of relief after that point. Not often does Rafael Nadal miss his forehands, but this time it just touched the net, falling back into his own half. Medvedev went onto win the Nitto ATP Finals, defeating Dominic Thiem in the finals in another three set affair.

Also Read: Former World No.1 believes Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are ‘equally the greatest’