Felix Auger-Aliassime spent an unfortunate moment yesterday. However, he is not alone in this fight. The chair umpire’s faulty decision dismantled his Cincinnati Open hope, but Aliassime has people who had immense trust in the Canadian’s potential. Joining Stefanos Tsitsipas, Denis Shapovalov and Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic lends his support for Aliassime dropping a special request to the tournament organizers.

The Djoker referred to Aliassime’s ill-fated loss against Jack Draper yesterday at the Cincinnati Open R16. At match-point, Aliassime hit a shot, which touched the court before Draper attempted his volley. Despite Draper’s return touching his side of the court first, the umpire missed noticing it and awarded the point to Draper, ultimately leading to Aliassime’s exit from the tournament.

Djokovic recently tweeted about the unfortunate case of Aliassime on X. “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!” Djokovic said.

The Serb also continued that players are often left in the dark despite the viewers on television knowing about the incident due to replay. He also requested the organizers to take a proper solution to this matter. “We have Hawkeye for line calls, we live in the technologically advanced 21st century! Please 🙏 respective Tours, make sure this nonsense never happens again!” Djokovic concluded.

Djokovic’s statement pointed out that the chair umpire’s mistake could have been avoided if the match had a VR monitoring system. However, Djokovic’s request will soon be implemented in the upcoming Grand Slam.

The 2024 US Open organizers have confirmed to use the video review technology from their upcoming tournament. After testing the technology last year on the same courts, organizers have found it the only solution to the recent controversies following the chair umpire’s decisions. Each player will receive three opportunities to request for a replay in each set of their games. Additionally, they can have one extra for tiebreaks.

“Video review technology will be available at #UsOpen on as many as 8 courts (Arthur Ashe, Louis Armstrong, Grandstand, Stadium 17, courts 5, 7, 11, 12) 3 reviews will be allowed per set (plus one additional one in the tie-break). For example, it may be requested for: Not up (double bounce) Touch Hindrance Foul shot. It will not be allowed to request it for foot faults or any code/time violations,” tweeted an Italian journalist. 

Although 8 courts will have the technology, some courts will be left without a review system. Jake Garner, a US Open umpire said to SBJ, “We assessed the process and the infrastructure needs, and we felt that going to eight courts this year was the right move. It covers about 75% of our singles matches.”

The Serb dropped his comment after Tsitsipas’ reaction. He, and many other players like, Denis Shapovalov and Nick Kyrgios, came forward to the Canadian’s support.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Denis Shapovalov, and Nick Kyrgios express disappointment over Aliassime’s wrongful exit from Cincinnati

After Aliassime had to exit the Round of 16 in Cincinnati, his colleague Stefanos Tsitsipas shared the clip where Draper hit the ball on to the floor off the frame of his racket. Sharing the clip, Tsitsipas only dropped an “Oh my.” He added more to his comment and wrote, “I don’t think I have ever seen a shot like this.”

Shapovalov dropped a circus and a clown emoji on his X page to showcase his sarcastic take. Shapovalov’s tweet showcased how players’ hard work and spirit to win matches are often taken so lightly. Unlike others, Kyrgios chose to lash out at Draper. He felt Draper must have understood what happened but he chose to remain silent for his benefit. “Mate. Horrible call, but every player knows you know exactly where you hit it hahaha ridiculous stuff,” tweeted Kyrgios.

Aliassime’s case shows why it is necessary for tournament organizers to use technology for better scoring and performance monitoring. Aliassime’s Cincinnati run might be over but his case makes a strong case for VR monitoring systems in matches. Given that the 2024 US Open hopes to incorporate that, should we expect an error-free result in the coming future?