A controversial umpire's decision in the round of 16 in Cincinnati between Jack Draper and Félix Auger-Aliassime triggers heated discussions in the tennis world. Even Novak Djokovic takes a stand.
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- In the match between Jack Draper and Félix Auger-Aliassime, a controversial umpire's decision leads to heated discussions.
- Because the chair umpire has no video evidence at his disposal, various tennis stars speak out and criticize this rule.
- Novak Djokovic has a clear opinion and finds it "embarrassing" and "ridiculous" that video evidence is not yet available in tennis.
The round of 16 at the ATP tournament in Cincinnati between Jack Draper and Félix Auger-Aliassime triggers heated discussions. An extremely controversial scene occurs on match point of all things. After a volley by Draper, the ball appears to touch the ground before bouncing back to Auger-Aliassime's side. However, the referee misses this, which is why he awards the point to Draper.
Even minutes of discussion and the supervisor's request do not help Auger-Aliassime. The referee sticks to his original decision. The tournament in Cincinnati is over for the Canadian.
Djokovic calls for the use of video evidence
The controversial decision on the court not only led to heated discussions on the court, but also caused an uproar on social networks. Many tennis pros have spoken out and called for the introduction of video evidence in tennis. One of the most prominent proponents of this technology is Novak Djokovic.
The Olympic champion from Paris expressed his anger at the incidents in Cincinnati: "It's embarrassing that we don't have video replay for these kinds of situations on the court," Djokovic wrote on the "X" platform.
The Serbian finds it ridiculous that chair umpires do not have the opportunity to revise their decisions based on video footage: "While viewers in front of the TV can see exactly what happened, the players on the court remain in the dark," the tennis star continued to criticize." Djokovic also pointed out that we have the Hawkeye for line calls and that we live in the technologically advanced 21st century. "Please make sure this nonsense never happens again," said the 24-time Grand Slam winner.
The call for video evidence in tennis is not new, but in view of the increasing number of incorrect decisions, the discussion is now taking on a new urgency. Tennis greats such as Nick Kyrgios, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Denis Shapovalov have also joined the debate and are in favor of the use of modern technology in tennis.
