By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday, August 18, 2024
The King of the Grand Slam Novak Djokovic has weighed in on the apparent lack of tennis video review technology.
Responding to the Friday night controversy that followed Jack Draper’s win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in Cincinnati — and the social media discourse at X — Djokovic says the madness has to stop.
Read more: Clouds of Controversy The conclusion of Draper’s victory over Auger-Aliassime
“It’s a shame we don’t have video replays of situations like this on the field,” he posted on X. “What’s even more ridiculous is that we don’t have a rule in place that would allow chair umpires to reverse calls original based on the video review that happens outside the court!
It’s a shame we don’t have video replays of such situations on the field. What’s even more ridiculous is that we have no rule in place that would allow chair umpires to reverse the original call based on video review of what happens off the field!… https://t.co/MQsmqpTmXK
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) August 17, 2024
There is unanimous support among players and fans regarding the use of video review technology, but tournaments have been slow to pick up the baton and put a system in place.
There have been several instances in the last two weeks alone where VAR technology would have helped the sport avoid controversy. Frances Tiafoe was given to a raw deal in Montreal when the electronic phone line failed to make a call during his match with Alejandro Tabilo. Technology could have easily ensured that the right call was made.
A similar situation occurred earlier in the week in Cincinnati, when Taylor Fritz was denied a point against Brandon Nakashima. Again, a simple check of a tablet would have rectified the situation.
Imagine telling me I had to stop the point when we literally have electronic summons Hawkeye 😂 https://t.co/c6O03AaOr7
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) August 14, 2024
To the ATP’s credit, the tournament announced a rule change to address the situation (missed calls from the electronic line calling system) that occurred during the Tiafoe and Fritz matches.
Here’s what the tournament said in a statement to X:
“Official ATP Update: Following recent technical issues with Live ELC in Montreal and Cincinnati, we have conducted a complete review of our protocols. Going forward, if the review official determines during a rally that a ball was out early at the point (but it was not called by the system), that decision will stand.”
It’s a nice proactive move, but it wouldn’t have helped Auger-Aliassime, who unfairly lost a critical point against Draper on a missed call that could have been correctly changed with a quick look at the video.
Djokovic, rightly, thinks the tournament still needs to do more.
“Everyone watching TV sees what happened in the replay, yet the players on the court are kept in the ‘dark’ not knowing what the result is,” Djokovic wrote. “We have Hawk-Eye for line calls, we live in the technologically advanced 21st century! Please, respective Tours, make sure this nonsense never happens again!”
