Greg Allensworth finds himself at the center of yet another tennis storm after the dramatic scenes between Daniil Medvedev and Benjamin Bonzi at the 2025 US Open. The American chair umpire has become tennis’s most talked about official, but not for the correct reasons.
The Controversies Surrounding Greg Allensworth
Allensworth’s recent troubles began at the US Open when a photographer walked onto the court during match point for Medvedev’s opponent Bonzi in the third set. Bonzi was serving to close out the match when Allensworth awarded him another first serve due to the disruption. This decision sent Medvedev into a fury, with the Russian asking the crowd to get loud and repeatedly shouting, “What did Reilly Opelka say?” — a reference to Opelka’s earlier criticism of the umpire.
The Opelka incident happened in February 2025 at the Dallas Open. When serving for the match against Cameron Norrie, Opelka confronted a fan who was coughing during his serve. Allensworth gave him a code violation and a point penalty for swearing at the spectator. After winning the match, Opelka unleashed a fierce attack, calling Allensworth “the worst ref on the ATP” and saying players discuss him in the locker room as the worst umpire on tour.
Denis Shapovalov became another victim of Allensworth’s controversial calls in August 2024 at the Washington Open. Facing match point against Ben Shelton, Shapovalov threw his racket and swore at a fan. Allensworth defaulted him from the match, costing Shapovalov his prize money and ranking points. The Canadian later said he “did not sleep for two days” after the incident.
Daniil Medvedev was visibly upset after a camera person walked on the court at match point. pic.twitter.com/5wnVf2GSFm
— ESPN (@espn) August 25, 2025
Felix Auger-Aliassime suffered perhaps the most costly decision at the Cincinnati Open in August 2024. On match point against Jack Draper, the ball appeared to bounce on Draper’s side before going over the net. Allensworth controversially awarded the point to Draper, ending the match.
Taylor Fritz also clashed with Allensworth at the same tournament. When an electronic line call failed to register an obvious out ball, Allensworth ordered a replay instead of giving Fritz the point. Fritz argued that with electronic line calling, he shouldn’t need to stop play himself.
MORE: Daniil Medvedev Hits Out at Chair Umpire on Match Point, Gets Crowd Involved at US Open
Earlier incidents include disputes with Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells and Andy Murray in Geneva. Allensworth also had a heated exchange with Carlos Alcaraz at Cincinnati over water bottles.
Allensworth’s Career and Background in Tennis
Despite the controversies, Allensworth holds impressive credentials in tennis officiating. He is one of only 33 Gold Badge Chair Umpires worldwide, the highest certification offered by the Joint Certification Program. Allensworth has been an ATP Elite Team Chair Umpire since 2019 and worked as an ITF/Grand Slam Development Team Chair Umpire from 2015 to 2019.
His career highlights include officiating the 2023 US Open Men’s Singles Final and ATP Masters 1000 finals in Cincinnati 2023 and Miami 2024. He also worked the 2019 US Open Men’s Doubles Final and the 2017 US Open Mixed Doubles Final and served as an official at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Allensworth has been involved in tennis officiating since 2005. He served on the USTA Official Committee from 2019 to 2022, including as vice-chairman from 2021 to 2022. He creates educational materials and conducts training for officials as a USTA Subject Matter Expert and Trainer.
The American umpire’s recent string of controversial decisions has made him one of the most criticized officials in tennis. With players increasingly vocal about his judgment calls, Allensworth’s position as a top-level umpire continues to face scrutiny from the tennis community.
