Joao Fonseca has continued his dream run at Roland Garros by beating Casper Ruud to reach the quarterfinals.
But his fourth round win over ATP rival Casper Ruud was controversial to say the least.
Leading 8-7 in the second set tie-break, Ruud stopped play after a shout from the crowd sounded like an out call.
The chair umpire then proceeded to say the ball was in, with Hawk-Eye then showing it was out, but Fonseca won the point and shortly after the set.
Brad Gilbert, a former coach of WTA star Coco Gauff, has now urged change at Roland Garros following the incident.
Who is the most exciting ATP youngster right now?
There are so many to choose from…
Roland Garros urged to introduce electronic line calling after Joao Fonseca incident
Sharing Tennis Channel’s analysis of the incident, Gilbert wrote on X: “Surprised we haven’t more bad calls, but unfortunately will happen again, huge mistake not having electronic line calling like every other tournament.
“1st is the interpretation of the call that one umpire or player can say in one can say out from same mark, also so often at end of long set, don’t have the right mark which is completely a disaster.”
The moment played a crucial part in the epic encounter, which Brazilian ace Fonseca won 7-5, 7-6(10-8), 5-7, 6-2.
He has also beaten Novak Djokovic at the clay-court Grand Slam in Paris, where he now meets Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals.
If you could change one rule in tennis what would it be and why?
Brad Gilbert finds no electronic line calling at Roland Garros ‘crazy’
Gilbert’s fury and confusion certainly didn’t end there, with the coach adding further comment on The Big T podcast.
“Drives me nuts, the word interpretation,” he said. “On a mark, the umpire could say it’s good, player looking at it says it’s out, vice versa.
“I could put a close ball mark next to the line, have two umpires go read it, one could say in, one could say out, there’s space.
“But what drives me insane is at the end of a set, it’s an hour set, and is it that mark, is it this mark?
“You know the player’s got to show where’s the lines, I mean there’s way too many things that can go wrong.
“How do we not even have a challenge system here? They’re so ridiculous that we play electronic at every court, we don’t even have an incidental.
“So for me, it’s crazy that we’re not using electronic because I don’t like this interpretation and totally right.
“Can we put the boxes back further, because the players are going back further, but the first thing is to get electronic line calling and get the challenge system in. Drives me bonkers!”
The situation could change in the near future, but currently Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam that relies on human line judges.
In stark contrast, the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open have all made the transition to electronic line calling.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
