(Video) Flavio Cobolli Argues with Chair Umpire and Stan Wawrinka Over Hindrance Calls at United Cup

Flavio Cobolli won his career's second match against Stan Wawrinka, who will retire after the 2026 season.

(Video) Flavio Cobolli Argues with Chair Umpire and Stan Wawrinka Over Hindrance Calls at United Cup

Flavio Cobolli argued with the chair umpire during his United Cup match against Stan Wawrinka (Image via X/Advantage Tennis, Jose Morgado, TennisTV)

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The 2026 United Cup is underway in Perth and Sydney. In the mixed-gender team tournament, Switzerland is placed in Group C along with Italy and France.

On January 3, Switzerland went past France 3-0, following which, the former took on Italy on January 4. Belinda Bencic gave Switzerland a 1-0 lead by downing two-time Grand Slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini.

Later, Flavio Cobolli saved Italy from the brink of defeat by eking out a three-set win over Stan Wawrinka. But the match saw Cobolli lose his cool when the chair umpire refused to award him a point.

During a rally, Cobolli chose not to return the ball after a ball fell out of his pocket. He expected a hindrance call from chair umpire Julie Kjendlie. But Kjendlie made it clear that she couldn’t do anything in this situation because, as per the rule, a player cannot hinder himself. The 23-year-old started to argue with the chair umpire, and Wawrinka also tried to explain the problem, but to no avail.

So that’s the rule. That’s not because the ball (was) out, it’s because the rule (is), if you drop it, you lose the point. That’s what he’s saying.

Stan Wawrinka told Flavio Cobolli

Watch the video here:

It was the first tennis drama of the 2026 season, but more such arguments and controversies are expected to happen during the Australian Open, which starts on January 18. The 40-year-old lifted his career’s first Grand Slam title at the 2014 Australian Open by defeating Rafael Nadal.

Cobolli lifted his career first two titles last year and finished the season in the 22nd spot with a 34-27 win-loss record. He lifted the Romanian Open by defeating Sebastian Baez and went past Andrey Rublev in the Hamburg European Open to win his career’s first ATP 500 title.

At the United Cup, Switzerland is on top of Group C. Following Wawrinka’s defeat to Cobolli, the pair of Bencic and Jakub Paul defeated Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. In the next Group C match, Italy will lock horns with France. Cobolli will square off against Rinderknech, while Paolini will meet Leolia Jeanjean.

Stan Wawrinka will be retiring after the 2026 season

Before his defeat to Flavio Cobolli, Stan Wawrinka toiled for more than three hours under the scorching sun to eke out a win against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech. The 40-year-old has announced that he will be retiring after the 2026 season, but he just won’t be bidding a simple goodbye.

Stan Wawrinka
Stan Wawrinka (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

I’m good with my decision to announce this is my last year, but I’m not doing a year just to say goodbye. I’m a competitor. I want to push my limit, I want to still fight against good players. I want to still win matches. I want to try to be back at the Top 100 at 40 years old.

Stan Wawrinka told the ATPTour.com

The last time the Swiss made the final was at the 2023 Croatia Open, but he lost to Alexei Popyrin. The last time Wawrinka lifted a title was at the 2017 Geneva Open by defeating Mischa Zverev.

Throughout my career, I do feel like I maximised everything I could; that always has been my goal, and it’s still on for the last year. It was always to push my own limits, and I achieved way more than I could dream when I was young.

Stan Wawrinka added

Wawrinka lifted his career’s second and third Grand Slam titles at the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open. Last year in the Majors, he suffered first-round exits at the Australian Open and the French Open.

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