Djokovic calls for video review after chair umpire’s mistake on match point between Draper and Aliassime | Tennis | Sports

The play was so fast that the chair umpire, Greg Allensworth, did not see the arc drawn by the ball. In the third set of the match, when Jack Draper had his second match point in the Cincinnati round of 16 against Felix Auger-Aliassime, the Briton, a promising left-hander of just 22 years old who has been plagued by injuries since he landed in the elite, decided to serve open and go to the net. The Canadian countered the serve with a fantastic return that complicated his rival’s volley. Draper contacted the ball just as it was going to bounce, but it hit his racket first, then hit the ground and advanced until it hit the net and fell dead in the court of Toni Nadal’s former player. Aliassime saw so clearly that his opponent had missed the volley that he did not even make a move to run, but Allensworth ended the match (7-5, 4-6, 4-6, 2h 38m). “Ladies and gentlemen, I consider that it was a valid shot. Game, set and match for Draper,” he ruled, to the incredulity of the world number 19, who spent four minutes trying to explain the play to the chair umpire so that he would change his decision. The umpire entered the court, but the rules do not allow for re-referees to be aided by video, and Allensworth, with no possibility of review, stuck to his mistake.

The move —which occurred in the early hours of Saturday— was so controversial that it has opened a sort of debate in the world of tennis, which was joined this Sunday by Novak Djokovic, winner of 24 Grand Slams and current number two in the world. ranking ATP. “It’s shameful that we don’t have a video replay of these kinds of situations on court. What’s even more ridiculous is that we don’t have a rule that allows chair umpires to change the original decision based on the video review that is done off the court!” Nole wrote on his social networks. Stefanos Tsitsipas, double Grand Slam finalist and world number 11, ironically wrote on his X account: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a shot like this.”

The error not only deprived Aliassime of saving the second match point that Draper had – who in the early hours of this Sunday lost in the quarter-finals to Holger Rune in two sets – but has also highlighted how tennis, one of the sports that has relied most on technology to evolve and improve officiating – for example, with Hawk-Eye, Foxtenn or electronic refereeing (ELC), which will see the disappearance of line umpires on all surfaces from 2025 – does not include in its rules the possibility for the chair umpire to spend a few seconds reviewing on video a play about which he or one of the players has doubts.

“Everyone watching TV sees what happened on the replay, but the tennis players on the court are ‘in the dark’, not knowing what the result will be. We have a hawk’s eye to check the (balls hitting the) lines, we live in the technologically advanced 21st century! Please, ATP tour officials, make sure this nonsense never happens again!” added Djokovic, who decided not to play in Cincinnati and will reappear at the US Open, on his X profile.

The four minutes Aliassime spent with Draper, the chair umpire and the net supervisor were very tense. The Canadian explained to Allensworth over and over how the play had gone while the crowd shouted for the point to be replayed. “Seriously, this is ridiculous. Didn’t you see the ball bounce in his court? It’s horrible what you just did, did you really not see the ball bounce on the ground?” he insisted. The umpire said he had not seen the ball make the parabola described by the Canadian: “I didn’t see it, I didn’t see it. I saw it (the ball) go forward.”

The 24-year-old former Toni Nadal pupil, world number 19, also had a brief exchange with Draper, who assured him that he had not noticed whether the ball had bounced in his court because he was looking in his direction. “Hey! It doesn’t matter where you were looking, you’ve played enough to know where the ball went when you hit it,” Aliassime replied. Desperate with the wait, the Canadian tried one last time with Allensworth.

— I’m going to ask you one last time if you’re 100% sure that you’re going to leave here and that you have no doubt, not the slightest doubt that it was a clean winner. And if you say yes, I’ll shake his hand and the match will be over.

— I’ve told it like I saw it, Felix. That’s how I am, and that’s how I saw it. If I had a doubt, I’d tell you, but… Listen, we can try to see it after the game, and if I’m wrong, I’ll admit it to you, but right now I can’t see it, and that’s how I saw it.

Resigned, Aliassime shook his opponent’s hand. He had previously warned Allensworth: “We’re going to leave and this is going to be everywhere, and it’s going to be ridiculous. This is really going to look ridiculous.” Not only has it become the controversy of the tournament due to the grossness of the error, but it has also opened a debate on the need for chair umpires to be able to review controversial plays on video.

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