Novak Djokovic has weighed in on the controversy between Jack Draper and Felix Auger-Aliassime in Cincinnati.
Despite skipping the two major warm-up tournaments in the build up to the US Open, the Olympic champion is still keeping his eye on things.
After slow motion replays showed that Draper’s match-point winning half-volley was not a legitimate shot, a remarkably calm Auger-Aliassime has measured but stern words for the umpire, Greg Allensworth.
It was admittedly difficult to see, and with the umpire having no recourse to a video review system, his decision remained unchanged and Draper won the match prematurely.
With the Brit having since lost to Holger Rune in the following round anyway, the tennis world has been criticising everything from Draper, the umpire, and the ATP.
Allensworth has been the chair umpire in three major incidents recently, overseeing a Taylor Fritz controversy, as well as when Denis Shapovalov was defaulted.
Novak Djokovic calls for an immediate ATP rule change
Slightly behind the curve, Djokovic has taken to X to call out the, admittedly obvious, pitfalls of not having a review system for close calls like this one.
With the US Open a mere week away, the defending champion said: “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!
“Everyone who watches TV sees what happened on the replay, yet the players on the court are kept in “dark” not knowing what’s the outcome. We have Hawkeye for line calls, we live in the technologically advanced 21st century! Please respective Tours, make sure this nonsense never happens again!”
Tennis fans had their say on the Draper and Auger-Aliassime incident, yet the Serb has slightly strayed from who many have been taking aim at.
Offering up a more reasonable take, Djokovic shifted attention and blame away from umpires and players and towards the lack of review system, and reluctance to allow umpires to simply change their minds on the basis of new evidence.
Are tennis fans and players being too harsh on umpires?
This decision was wrong, and while in real-time we’d have all struggled to make a definitive call, mistakes like this shouldn’t be happening at this level.
The US Open tournament director has already responded to concerns after the past fortnight’s litany of dodgy, contentious calls.
Allensworth, the particular umpire implicated in this episode of on-court fiascos, is obviously someone trying to do their job as best they can.
Even with these mistakes, it’s not as if they were at all deliberate, solely because of an ineptitude, illegality, or sway towards a particular player.
Shapovalov is no stranger to some on-court drama and has since used two far more legitimate grievances, to prop up his own.
Sloane Stephens queried on X whether the umpire should be removed from the next grand-slam, face a fine, or receive no year-end bonus.
However, everything here boils down to a lack of video review and the absence of option to call for a review.
With both new rules set to be introduced at the US Open this year, it feels often like a slightly bad-faith discussion, where well-paid players lash out at human beings making a mistake.
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