Nick Kyrgios has criticised Spanish chair umpire Carlos Bernardes after he made a dreadful blunder that cost three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka at the Shanghai Masters.
Italian Flavio Cobolli hit a shot out wide on the return in the third set down 0-1, but Bernardes selected 0-15 instead of 15-0 on the scoreboard by mistake.
In what should have been 30-30, Cobolli broke at 15-40 which helped the world No.29 run away with a 6-7(6) 7-6(4) 6-3 victory.
As neither player could break the deadlock requiring two tiebreaks in the opening two sets, Cobolli's break for 0-2 in the third was the only time either competitor dropped served throughout the contest.
Kyrgios, who has a history with Bernardes dating back to the 2022 Miami Open when the Aussie received a point penalty, was left unimpressed by the Spaniard.
“BERNARDES SHOULD OF BEEN FIRED YEARS AGO. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN. Potato," he said on social media.
Brad Gilbert, former coach of Coco Gauff, was left in shock.
"How does that basic mistake happen and was not corrected, did not see the match [but] if this happened [then it's] inexcusable," Gilbert wrote on X.
Another X user commented: "I know that Carlos did not intentionally do this but where are the other officials? This is a disaster. How did Wawrinka and Cobolli not notice?"
Bernardes has been officiating on tour for nearly four decades.
Cobolli will face fourth seed Novak Djokovic in the round of 32 tonight at 9:30pm AEST.
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