Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff on same page after 'insane' umpire row
Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff have both aired their grievances with umpires in recent days.
Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff have both called for more technology to be used across the board in tennis after having separate run-ins with umpires over the last few days.
Raducanu blasted “insane” officiating during her opening match in Nottingham on Monday, claiming she was playing against both the opponent and her umpire.
And Gauff was left in tears during her French Open semi-final against Iga Swiatek after an argument over whether a line call affected her. She wanted video review technology to be implemented as a standard.
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Technology in tennis still isn’t consistent, with some tournaments using automatic line calling while others still use linespeople with Hawk-Eye challenges, and other events don’t have a challenge system in place at all. Raducanu experienced the latter in Nottingham.
The 2021 US Open champion was unable to contest calls during her match against Ena Shibahara and later claimed that she was playing “two versus one” against her opponent and chair official Ana Carvalho. On one occasion, one of Shibahara’s shots was called out but Carvalho overturned the decision and the Brit argued that her rival “reacted like it was out”.
She later explained that she would have wanted the chance to challenge multiple calls using a system like Hawk-Eye. “I feel like I was playing two v one on court - it was insane. I would have used probably at least four challenges [if we’d had them],” she said. “I think a lot of the time they go both ways.
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“Today I felt they were all against me but it just makes me feel better that I managed to beat her and the umpire as well. It is difficult when there is no challenge but it is something everyone has to deal with. Maybe it was just trying to make the match more competitive.”
And Gauff is on the same page as Raducanu after sharing her wish to see VAR technology used more often in tennis. Video review has been trialled at select events, like the US Open, to check decisions like foot faults and double bounces.
The world No. 2 felt she was left short-changed during her French Open semi-final as she claimed that an out call on one of Swiatek’s serves affected her return. When the call was overruled and Swiatek’s serve was called in, Gauff thought the point should’ve been replayed instead of going to her opponent.
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“I didn't even finish my follow through,” Gauff explained, eventually being reduced to tears. “[The line judge] called it before I hit it. Can you ask him?” After losing the match, the American was asked whether she thought a review system should be used in tennis.
“100 per cent. I think tennis is the only sport where not only we don't have the VR system, but a lot of times the decisions are made by one person. In other sports there's usually multiple refs in making a decision,” she replied.
“I know the US Open brought some of it last year, I believe. I know we used it in our doubles at one point. Yeah, I definitely think at this point it's almost ridiculous that we don't have it. Not also just speaking because that happened to me, but I just think every sport has it.”
