Novak Djokovic is the latest star to speak out on the controversial match point in Jack Draper’s victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Cincinnati Open.
The Brit came from a set down to secure a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, win over his Canadian opponent to book his spot in the quarter-finals of the competition. However, the win has been overshadowed by controversy.
In what has been the ‘most controversial match point ever’, Draper hit a low angle drop shot to catch Auger-Aliassime. The shot clipped the net before bouncing onto his opponent’s side of the court, but replays showed that the ball had bounced prior to the shot.
Auger-Aliassime was prepared to play the next point before umpire Greg Allensworth intervened to rule that it was a fair point and he had therefore lost the match. Draper offered to replay the point if a replay had shown that he had shanked the shot, though his plea fell on deaf ears.
Tennis superstar Djokovic has now spoken out on the incident, calling for the sport to embrace the rise in technology to prevent ‘embarrassing’ mishaps from occurring.
Stefanos Tsitsipas initially tweeted about the incident, saying: “I don’t think I have ever seen a shot like this.” Djokovic then replied: “It’s embarrassing that we don’t have video replay of these kind of situations on the court.
“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!”
