Andy Murray makes feelings clear after VAR "farce" in historic US Open win
Tennis star Andy Murray expressed his frustration after new technology intervened in his US Open first-round match.
Murray claimed a straight sets win over Corentin Moutet in his men's singles first-round match in Flushing Meadows on Tuesday. It saw him join an exclusive club with 200 Grand Slam wins and he will now prepare to face No.19 seed Grigor Dimitrov in the second round on Thursday.
Even though Murray managed to reach the second round, the 36-year-old was frustrated after one particular call that took several minutes to sort out. It happened after Murray was awarded a point while serving to win the match after a shot from Moutet was deemed to have double-bounced.
Moutet was unhappy with the call and asked for the point to be reviewed by chair umpire Louise Engzell. But while attempting to review the point on a tablet, it took several minutes before the umpire announced that the technology needed had malfunctioned and was not working.
"This is supposed to be the official feed," Engzell told both Murray and Moutet, as she pointed to her tablet to explain the delay. "I have nothing here. VR has stopped working."
Novak Djokovic won Australian Open despite playing with major hamstring tear
As a result, the point could not be reviewed and the original call of awarding the point to Murray was allowed to stand. Murray went on to win the game and secure a place in the second round.
Despite winning the point and the match, Murray was not happy with the delay. The former British No.1 labelled the process as a “farce” even though he would go on to win the match.
"It took about four minutes to make a decision," said Murray, via the . "I'm pro-using technology to get to the right calls - but you've got to have it working. When it goes like that, it turns into a bit of a farce."
Former British No.1 Andy Murray reached the second round of the US Open (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)US Open officials would go on to explain what happened during the delay while attempting to review the point. It was revealed that the chair umpire’s tablet had malfunctioned, and was explained why the point was awarded to Murray.
"Per protocol, a video review and any call based off a review must be made by the chair umpire via the video delivered to their tablet on court," US Open officials said.
"If the video is not available on the chair umpire's tablet, the original call on the court stands. Immediately following the match, the malfunctioning tablet was repaired."
Murray has not got past the second round of the US Open since 2016. Having won the title in 2012, the 36-year-old has a best finish of the quarter-final which has reached three times in his last eight appearances, having also not taken part in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
