Umpire scoring error mars Shanghai thriller as Flavio Cobolli overcomes Stan Wawrinka

Flavio Cobolli’s Rolex Shanghai Masters victory over Stan Wawrinka was marred by a scoring error from chair umpire Carlos Bernades early in the third set, one that came in a pivotal game in his 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-3 comeback.

Social media lit up over the mistake, which occurred when the 22-year-old Italian was returning serve up 1-0 on Wawinka, a former world No. 3 aged 39:

Cobolli and Wawrinka split the first two points of the game but Bernades, who is set to end his 40-year career as a referee at the end of the 2024 season, inaccurately logged the score as 0-30 rather than 15-15. Neither the 28th-seeded Cobolli nor Wawrinka—nor, seemingly, anyone in the crowd—noticed the mistake, and play continued as normal.

Cobolli ultimately won the game, securing the lone break of the two-and-a-half-hour match to book a third-round meeting with former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios hit out at the incident on Twitter/X, declaring Bernardes “should of [sic] been fired years ago”:

Kyrgios had his own (albeit very different) run-in with the longtime Brazilian umpire at the 2022 Miami Open, where the Aussie was dealt numerous penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct—amassing $35,000 in fines.

For their parts, Cobolli and Wawrinka shared a warm exchange at net and are yet to address the scoring mishap.

“He is a legend of our sport,” Cobolli said after the match. “It was a pleasure to play with Stan on this court.”