Kiwi tennis star Marcus Daniell has erupted in outrage over a contentious umpire call that may have cost him and Brazilian partner Marcelo Demoliner a spot in the US Open third round.
The pair had taken the first set against French third seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues-Herbert, and were pressing their rivals' serve in the second, when Herbert hit a volley long.
Daniell and Demoliner celebrated the point, then claimed the next for what they thought was a service break.
But undetected by all the players, the umpire had ruled the ball deflected off Daniell on the previous point, and the Frenchmen duly held serve, eventually winning the match 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(1) in 2h 30m.
"But it was about a foot away and was so obvious, we didn't pay attention to the score," says Daniell. "When we won the next point, we thought we'd broken them.
"Absolute bullshit call and more bullshit to not clear it up when we were pumping our fists after the point.
"Our opponents apologised to us after the match."
Daniell combined with compatriot Michael Venus to claim doubles bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in July.
Grand Slam winner Venus has also made an early exit from the US Open, when German partner Tim Puetz suffered a side strain and could not continue in their opening match.
Meanwhile, Erin Routliffe has teamed with Canadian teen sensation Leylah Fernandez, who sent defending champion Naomi Osaka packing from the singles draw on Saturday (NZ time). They face Americans Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery in the second round.
