JANNIK SINNER paid for sportingly but WRONGLY awarding Carlos Alcaraz a point in their sensational French Open final.
Poland’s World No.1 told the umpire an Alcaraz forehand was in – only for replays to show it went LONG.
The Spaniard earlier saved THREE Championship points in that fourth set.
And Alcaraz went on to complete a comeback of astonishing quality, winning 4-6 6-7 6-4 7-6 7-6 in five hours and 29 minutes.
Unlike the three other Grand Slam tournaments, Roland Garros does NOT use HawkEye technology to check line calls.
And in fact midway through the final set, Sinner was frustrated when an Alcaraz shot was called in – when replays revealed it was 31mm out.
So although fans praised Sinner for his sportsmanship in the fourth, many viewers blasted French Open chiefs for being stuck in their ways.
The tight line call came when Alacaraz served to go 6-5 up on his way to levelling at two sets all.
Line judges called it out and the chair umpire got down from her seat to examine the mark.
But as she strode quickly across the court, Sinner signalled he thought the ball was good.
The umpire immediately acknowledged that gesture with a raised hand as she gave Alcaraz the point and returned to her seat.
However, freeze-frame replays of the incident indicated the ball had clearly landed beyond the baseline.
That led to observers hailing both players for the spirit in which they played the match, but also questioning the tournament for snubbing HawkEye.
One fan said: “They are both acting like saints here.”
Another described them as “class acts all around”.
A third posted: “So nice to see some civility in the world!”
And a fourth wrote: “That is why they are 2 favourites.”
But another viewer moaned: “So many missed called because they refuse to use technology. Joke of a tourny .”
And a similar thinker said: “Honestly thought it looked clearly out at full speed. A number of very questionable calls at the end of that set…”
Ninety minutes after the line shout, Alcaraz clinched a glorious victory from two sets down via a dominant 10-2 Championship tie-break in the fifth.
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