Controversies on the tennis court? Oh, they’re as old as the game itself! But nothing frustrates a player more than a dubious call from the umpire, especially when there’s no way to challenge it. Just ask Coco Gauff, who’s had her fair share of these gut-wrenching moments. But this time, she can breathe a sigh of relief. The US Open organizers have decided to roll out the VAR system more extensively, meaning those questionable calls might finally have some backup. 

The American tennis sensation engaged in a pre-tournament presser, ahead of her campaign at the US Open. She expressed her happiness over the expansion of the Video Assistant Review (VAR) technology, which was initially introduced in the previous edition of the tournament. 

Speaking in the interview, Gauff highlighted the fact that many other sports, despite not being as financially backed as tennis, have a video review system. “I definitely think that, you know, it should be, especially at the slams, it should be here and 1000 tournaments.” While Gauff acknowledged that the facility should be present in every tournament, she shared that it should begin with important events like the slam. 

“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.” Continuing further, she reflected upon the agony that players go through in the absence of such technologies. “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.”  For the unversed, the US Open organizers have decided to extend the facility to eight courts this season. 

This development is poised to enhance the fairness of the competition. It would also minimize the frustration of players that emerge from controversial umpiring decisions. Gauff, meanwhile, has been at the center of such controversies time and again. In this year’s French Open, Coco Gauff expressed her anger over the absence of a video review system in tennis. 

In the second set of the match, Iga Swiatek’s serve was called out just as Gauff hit her return long. But when the umpire overruled the call and awarded the point to Swiatek, Gauff furiously insisted that she hit her return after the ball had already been called out. “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,” she said after the match. Similar scenes unfolded for her at the Paris Olympics.

Gauff faced Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the third round of the Paris Olympics. A shot by Vekic in the second set was called out by the line umpire. Coco perceived that she won the point and hit the ball out herself. The American was made to suffer with Vekic being awarded the point. The 20-year-old was seen engaging in a heated debate with the umpire and crying her heart out. “This isn’t fair, I’ve been cheated,” she said. But with the US Open once again introducing the system, Gauff definitely can be less worried. However, she is not the only player to have demanded such changes in the sport.

When Novak Djokovic echoed Coco Gauff’s demand

The controversial call saga from umpires was witnessed in the recently concluded Cincinnati Masters as well. During the R16 match Felix Auger-Aliassime hit a shot, which touched the court before Jack 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. This seemed to make Nole furious.

Taking to his X, Novak Djokovic wrote, “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.” 

The tennis community has resonated with the demand for VRS time and again. With the US Open actually implementing it, it would be interesting to see how much can Coco Gauff and other players benefit out of it.