Brad Gilbert, Coco Gauff’s coach, has joined the discussion about the controversy between Jack Draper and Felix Auger-Aliassime. The American coach criticized the ATP for not having a television monitor for the chair umpire to make better decisions during matches.
The incident in question occurred in the third round of the Cincinnati Open. In a hard-fought match, Draper was serving at 5-4 (40-30) in the third set and had his second match point. Auger-Aliassime played a drop shot that surprised the Briton, who reacted with a strange effect after the ball hit his racket twice.
Brad Gilbert criticizes ATP for lack of video replays
The Canadian assumed the point was his, but the chair umpire decided in Draper’s favour, sealing the victory 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Auger-Aliassime expressed his disappointment, asking: “Didn’t you see the ball bounce on the ground? He directed it to the ground. What do you mean?”
Felix accepted the defeat and moved on, but the incident did not go unnoticed in the tennis world. Several ATP stars, including Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daria Saville and Sloane Stephens, shared their opinion.
This time, Coco Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert spoke out via X and also called for the inclusion of video replays for the benefit of referees. “The fact that a referee makes a decision without looking at the video replay of the game is beyond surprising and will only reinforce the referee’s decision. This is a perfect example of how 10 seconds with a TV monitor makes the consensus obvious.”
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