Andy Murray breezed to a first straight-set win in a Grand Slam in five years. Dismissing Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-3, 6-3, the Scot made light work of his US Open first-round encounter. While the match wasn’t particularly high-octane, a moment from the first set has sparked debates among pundits, players and fans alike about the need for football-style Video Assistant Referral (VAR) in the sport. Deep into the first, the 24th-seed Argentine- down 4-5 and 0-15 on his serve- appeared to scramble a winner. But Murray- arms outstretched, a look of bemusement on his face- contested the call, suggesting to Umpire Tim Jansen that the ball had bounced twice before Cerundolo’s return.
Replays on Louis Armstrong Stadium giant screens confirmed as much, much to the anger of the New York crowd. Umpire Jansen corrected the call, ringing in a swift mood shift inside the show court. Cerundolo refused to grumble, graciously accepting the call. He recovered to hold his serve but conceded the set in the next two games. Although Murray secured the point, the correction stands out as an exception. Under tennis rules, players can challenge line calls via Hawkeye technology. However, no remedy exists for such, albeit rare, errors.
Speaking after the match, the Argentine proposed the use of video replays to undo such errors:
“They should have that replay to check if it was double bounce or not. That [would] help us…I had to give him the point. Of course, I will do it today and I will do it many more days. If it happens again. It’s how I am. I’m not going to steal a point. Of course, I’m not going to win a point if I lost it,” quotes the Telegraph.
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Commentator Colin Fleming and former British no. 1 turned pundit Mark Petchey echoed Cerundolo, arguing that if replays are available to the spectators, umpires too should be able to utilize them. Petchey was also full of praise for the Argentine for conceding the point, calling it the “moment of the year”.
