Seduto sulla sedia dell’arbitro a Monte Carlo: l’errore (comprendibile) di Aurélie Tourtein.

A fiercely fought semifinal

The semifinal between Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas exceeded even the highest expectations. We saw a great Tsitsipas return almost to the levels of Roland Garros 2021, when the Greek was one set away from winning the most important and prestigious tournament on clay, against a more uncertain but stubborn version of Sinner.

We also understood why until now, the South Tyrolean has only won one out of five matches (played on red clay) against the Greek. Tsitsipas’ unpredictable and often bouncing one-handed backhand put our Sinner to the test from the very beginning. The South Tyrolean stubbornly focused on the Greek’s forehand in the early games, which continued to prove, at least initially, superior. On the center court of the Monte Carlo tournament, a clear difference emerged between those who have always preferred clay and those who are still learning to love it.

After a spectacular first set, dominated by Tsitsipas, came the reaction that we now expect from Jannik Sinner, who until yesterday had never lost a match in 2024 after conceding the first set. Sinner saved 5 break points in the last game of the second set (lasting more than 10 minutes) to extend the match to a third set, demonstrating that he was not yet in control of a tough and grueling semifinal. At the beginning of the third set, however, the energy on the court had finally turned in his favor. The tenacity shown in the second set had given him the necessary game awareness and resistance to be the first to attack, breaking Tsitsipas’ serve early on, who was somewhat subdued compared to the first set.

The third set and the referee’s mistake

Sinner entered the fifth game of the third set with a perfect service record and, with great confidence, went for the first chance of a double break on Tsitsipas’ serve. Tsitsipas, as a champion, played the ace to reach deuce. The down-the-line backhand immediately played by Sinner gave him an advantage as heavy as a match point. Tsitsipas felt the weight of his serve, pulling the first serve out, and Aurélie Tourte, seated in the umpire’s chair, raised the finger, loudly and clearly, announcing three letters over the microphone: “out”. But when the Greek also threw the second serve out, Aurélie, a 38-year-old Frenchwoman, former tennis player, awarded with a gold badge in 2017 (the highest level of refereeing), the most highly rated chair umpire in the world, remained silent.

Paolo Bertolucci, sitting 50 meters away in the commentary box, on the other hand, clearly said: “double fault”. Sinner was still standing still, and the audience was already cheering. But from the umpire’s chair, positioned about 10 meters away from where the ball had landed, not a sound was heard. So, in the last remaining second, Sinner put his racket to return, and the point was played, while thousands of spectators present, and not, rose from their seats in panic. At the end of that point, Sinner went to see the mark: “the ball was out,” he told Aurélie, gesturing with his fingers about 10 centimeters. The umpire’s mistake denied Sinner the secured double break, reopening the match and unleashing the fury of all the “Sinner fans” present around the world.

And it is to us that I would like to address.

Once again: let’s learn from Sinner

We have all become a bit fanatical about Sinner, idolizing any phrase or move of the South Tyrolean, in addition to his impressive tennis. So this time too, we should stop for a moment to look at his reaction. If we take, for example, the other 9 players in the top 10, we can be sure that almost all of them would have had very different reactions. Someone would have practically stopped playing, throwing away the game. Someone else would have railed at the referee, called the supervisor, cried, shouted, and destroyed rackets. They have done it for much less, let alone for a point that would have practically secured the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters final. Sinner, on the other hand, left that mark on the court for the rest of the match, never erasing it. His only message to Aurélie was this: look closely at your mistake. He knew he had to forget it quickly, but not she. Then he continued to do the only truly useful thing: try to play. But the nervousness got the better of his exemplary attitude, and the cramps, which perhaps would have come anyway, prevented him from doing so. When he called the physiotherapist to massage his legs, he tried to speak calmly, exchanging some smiles and thanking him: “you have magic hands.” He seemed calm, as if nothing had happened. The only ones who continued to talk about it, without thinking about anything else, were us.

Sinner lost the semifinal after showing everyone that he had found a way to win it, once again.

Matches are not decided based on one point, so did Tsitsipas deserve the Monte Carlo final? Almost certainly, yes. Would Sinner have won the match with a 4-1 lead after scoring 8 out of 8 points with his serve in the third set? Almost certainly, yes. But as good “Sinner fans” as we have become, we should look at Sinner’s behavior in the face of a human error, which can happen in life without any excuses, and learn. “You have to accept it, everyone makes mistakes. Even if it’s not easy, you have to take it with a smile,” the Italian said in a press conference while most of his disciples had already directed insults and unrepeatable comments towards Aurélie Tourte, a woman who has made tennis her life, sacrificing her work as a pharmacist and distancing herself from her family to travel the world among tournaments.

And so, Jannik Sinner teaches us not only how to hit a perfect down-the-line backhand but also how to handle a human and forgivable mistake. The burdens on the heart and the meanness directed at Aurélie will not give him back that point.

From 2025, the introduction of the Electronic Live System will also arrive on clay courts, like a parachute, to save referees and players from glaring mistakes and nervous breakdowns. But as we have seen in various episodes on hard courts, even Hawk Eye can make mistakes. Who knows if between a hawk eye and a human eye, errors will truly disappear.