One of the world’s best tennis players is upset with what he saw take place during Felix Auger-Aliassime’s Cincinnati Open match on Friday night.
After a controversial match point resulted in the Canadian losing his third-round match to Jack Draper, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, Novak Djokovic took to X on Saturday to voice his displeasure.
“It’s embarrassing that we don’t have video replay of these kind of situations on the court,” wrote Djokovic. “What’s even more ridiculous is that we don’t have the rule in place that would allow chair umpires to change the original call based on the video review that happens off the court!
“Everyone who watches TV sees what happened on the replay, yet the players on the court are kept in “dark” not knowing what’s the outcome. We have Hawkeye for line calls, we live in the technologically advanced 21st century! Please respective Tours, make sure this nonsense never happens again!”
With Draper serving for the match in the third, up 40-30 in the game and five games to four in the set, Auger-Aliassime’s return appeared to handcuff Draper at the net. The ball appeared to bounce off Draper’s racket, into the ground and then over the net.
However, the chair umpire ruled that the ball went over the net without hitting the ground, and awarded the point, and match, to Draper.
Auger-Aliassime clearly saw the point differently and had a lengthy discussion with Draper and the chair umpire at the net.
“He shanked it on the floor,” the Canadian told the umpire multiple times.
“I didn’t see that,” the umpire responded.
Tennis currently does not allow video review for anything other than line-call challenges.
Fellow Canadians Vasek Pospisil and Dennis Shapovalov also showed their support for Auger-Aliassime and expressed their discontent with the situation on X.
Video replay will be available at the upcoming US Open, but without it currently implemented across the board, Auger-Aliassime and many others will have to live with the call the umpire makes in the moment.