“So frustrating, absolutely ridiculous”: In the wake of the Holger Rune scandal at Monte-Carlo, Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Andre Agassi, asks for significant reforms.
“You’re competing with yourself”: Tennis VAR? Patrick Mouratoglou believes so following the ‘robbery’ of Holger Rune.
Coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who stood up for Rune, felt unfairly treated throughout the controversy surrounding his own protégé, Holger Rune, and the line call against Jannik Sinner at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Mouratoglou also thought that tennis had to change.
Sinner struck a ball that was overturned by the umpire after it was assessed for accuracy. After that, Rune lost it on Twitter, criticizing the ATP admin for both the content of their message and the calls made against him. Perhaps petty, but it was also a problem that emerged throughout the competition involving several different players. As Mouratoglou demonstrates, there is a solution that would eliminate any uncertainty, particularly considering the current state of technology.
“Today, the players can challenge a call, but they cannot really review an action on video. And that’s missing. It’s called the VAR,” Patrick Mouratoglou said in his Instagram reel. “We have the technology today to avoid big mistakes from the chair umpires.”
“I think the worst for the player is feeling something was unfair to him, that a point was stolen from him,” he stated. “It’s really hard to maintain mental control when playing tennis. You’re in conflict with yourself. Players may lose their minds if they make major errors, which might end up changing the entire match.”
“I believe there are two major problems with tennis umpiring. The first is not making use of the VAR. Second, when the chair umpire clearly commits a grave error,” he remarked. “I think when the supervisor enters, because the player asked for the supervisor on the court, he should correct the mistake.”
“They are people. Everyone is prone to error… However, I believe it is quite annoying for players to notice an error and be unable to fix it. while everything has been captured on camera. Take the double bounce, for instance,” he said.
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