Australian Alex de Minaur had one of the most bizarre moments tennis can produce when he was forced to keep playing after losing a shoe mid-point.
During his first-round Australian Open win against Italian Lorenzo Musetti, which he clinched in four sets, de Minaur early in the match was left asking questions of chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore after play was allowed to continue, with his left shoe lying on the court.
The moment couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Australian, who conceded a crucial break point at the end to Musetti which occurred at the mid-way point of the second set.
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“Look at what happened! I’ve never seen that before,” said former British star Samantha Smith in commentary for Nine.
“I was waiting for umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore to call a let here.
“He did actually go up to umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore at the end and say, ‘Is that not a let?’. But he didn’t push it.
Former Australian player Sam Groth added: “If your hat comes off during the play, they will call a let”.
While the play stops if a player’s hat falls off, that rule doesn’t apply when a shoe comes loose.
Fortunately, de Minaur broke back and later secured the second set before going on to win the match.
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