“I feel like in tennis, we should have a VAR system because these points are big deals,” said Coco Gauff, after her Paris Olympics campaign came to a crushing end. The American sensation lost in the third round of the tournament in a controversial fashion that ended her dream of winning a medal there. However, it wasn’t the first time that Gauff was batting for the introduction of the VAR system in tennis. Earlier in the French Open final against Iga Swiatek this year, Gauff had a line call go against her, which again highlighted the need for the technology’s introduction. Finally, ahead of the US Open, the tournament announced a massive move with its VAR system and this has now got the backing of Aryna Sabalenka as well.

For this edition of the Grand Slam tournament in New York, the tournament authorities have decided to expand the usage of VAR technology to eight courts. With this, the system will cover most of the main draw matches in singles. During the pre-tournament press conference, Sabalenka was asked if she was in favor of the usage of VAR at the US Open.

Siding with players like Coco Gauff, Sabalenka mentioned, “I mean, I think that’s really important that we have this system here, because I saw those tough calls. I think that’s really unfair for some of the players, you know, like, not to be able to review the referee calls. And also, for the referees, you kind of can understand, like, tennis improved a lot, and it’s faster, it’s not that easy to be on the chair, be a chair umpire.”

With the technology in place for the matches, the players will have three video reviews per set, which will help reduce the controversies seen in various tournaments in the past. As a result, Sabalenka felt that it was a really good move by the US Open to have the VAR system in place. Further, Coco Gauff also breathed a sigh of relief as she got her request fulfilled.

Coco Gauff on VAR expansion at the US Open: ‘It’s a great thing’

Time and again, Gauff has pleaded with the tennis bodies to have VAR introduced at the tournaments, especially the big tournaments like the Grand Slams and the Masters tournaments. When the US Open announced the revolutionary move to expand the usage of VAR this year to eight courts, Gauff acknowledged the tournament’s historic decision.

She said, “I definitely think that, you know, it should be, especially at the slams, it should be here and 1000 tournaments. US Open had it last year. I didn’t have to use it. Hopefully I won’t have to use it this year, but I think it’s a great thing. You know, the worst is when you get apologized to afterwards, and it’s kind of just like, thanks, but, you know, what is that going to do for me now? I think it’ll just hold everybody accountable.” 

With the technology in place, it would potentially provide a fair environment for the players, which in turn would reduce the on-court controversies. Do you agree with the US Open’s decision to expand the usage of the VAR technology this year? Let us know your views in the comments below.