'It's almost ridiculous' - Coco Gauff blasts French Open for not having VAR

Coco Gauff has overtaken Aryna Sabalenka as the new World No. 2.

American tennis star Coco Gauff has claimed that it’s ‘ridiculous’ that there was no VAR at the French Open 2024.

Coco Gauff suffered a disappointing loss against World No. #1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals at the 2024 French Open on Thursday. With the loss, the 20-year-old currently trails Swiatek 11-1 in their head-to-head record.

After losing the first set 6-2 against three-time Roland-Garros champion Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff tried to make a comeback in the second set. During the fourth game of the second set, the 20-year-old clashed with the chair umpire, Aurelie Tourte. It happened after the French chair umpire overruled a call of out on a Swiatek serve.

Aurelie Tourte gave the point to Swiatek, but Gauff raised an objection to the umpire’s decision. The crowd started booing. Amid the loud jeers, the umpire claimed: “For me, it did not affect the shot.”

Reacting to the chair umpire, the new World No. #2 said, “You’re wrong. It’s the second time that happened. You should be ashamed. It’s a Grand Slam semi-final, know the rules of the game.”

The 2023 US Open champion later started crying and eventually lost the match. However, Coco Gauff also addressed the issue at the post-match press conference. Guaff stated that the US Open has been using the VAR facility since the last edition. To avoid a margin of error, the VAR facility should be introduced at the French Open too.

She said, “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. In other sports there’s usually multiple refs in making a decision. I know the US Open brought some of it last year, I believe. I know we used it in our doubles at one point.”

Also Read: Coco Gauff equals Iga Swiatek’s U-21 record with recent win at Madrid Open 2024

Gauff further added, “I definitely think at this point it’s almost ridiculous that we don’t have it. Not also just speaking because that happened to me, but I just think every sport has it. Also, there are so many decisions that are made, and it sucks as a player to go back or online and you see that you were completely right and it’s, like, what does that give you in that moment?”

Nevertheless, with the quarter-final finish, the American tennis star has taken over Aryna Sabalenka in the live WTA singles rankings. Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek won her fourth Roland Garros title after defeating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the final of the 2024 French Open.

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