The rule in sport is to not stop until either the official tells you to or you hear the umpire’s whistle.
Aussie tennis star Storm Hunter heard an official call so she stopped dead in her tracks during her round of 64 clash at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
Down 4-1 in the opening set, Hunter’s first serve was returned by Anna Kalinskaya with an audible “let” being heard on the broadcast.
Hunter, chipped the ball back in the direction of the net towards an awaiting ballkid. Unfortunately for the Aussie, the voice she heard didn’t belong to any official on her court.
As Hunter retreated behind the baseline to prepare for her second serve, Kalinskaya gestured to the chair umpire that the point should be hers.
It’s then that the chair umpire broke the news to Hunter that he never made the call and it had in fact come from a court next to the one she was playing on.
A clearly confused Hunter ultimately accepted her fate before turning her attention to her opponent and asking her if she’s going to accept the point.
Kalinskaya offers nothing but a slight wave back as she prepares to receive a first serve after moving to 0-30.
The bizarre incident was shared to social media by tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg who couldn’t believe what he’d seen unfold.
“Clearly audible “let” call as Hunter’s serve lands, so she stops playing, but it’s from the other court. Kalinskaya taking that point without hesitation is brutal. Sometimes a let should be a let even if it wasn’t a let,” Rothenberg wrote.
Tennis journalist Christian Montegan was just an incensed over the incident: “This is incredibly harsh. From Kalinskaya’s point of view there needs to be better sportsmanship and understanding.”
The moment divided tennis fans with some believing the point should have been replayed and the umpire should have stepped in.
One user wrote: “Umpire should intervene here as it clearly hindrance from outside. I don’t usually blame umpires as I know from experience that it’s a hell of a job. But here you just need to step up for the integrity of the game.”
A second added: “Maybe a second serve would’ve been fair, but you can’t really work that out in the moment.”
Fans however were also quick to get behind the Russian with many believing she’d done nothing wrong.
One user wrote: “To be fair to Kalinskaya, if the umpire has called it her point why would she disagree? I’m not sure many would (and she played the return properly as if it was in play herself).”
Another added: “It’s not Kalinskaya’s responsibility to umpire so I see no issue with what she did.”
In the end the moment mattered for little as Kalinskaya went on to record a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory over her opponent.