Tennis News: Novak Djokovic calls for major change after drama in which Carlos Alcaraz apologizes for ugly act

Novak Djokovic has called for immediate introduction of video replays tennis after a controversial moment at the weekend when Carlos Alcaraz apologized for breaking his racket. Djokovic led calls for the chair umpire to be allowed to review points after Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime became furious after losing to Britain's Jack Draper on what appeared to be a double bounce.

The Canadian was facing match point when he thought he could return the ball after a drop shot. Draper appeared to be a little late with the drop shot, despite hitting the ball over the net. Auger-Aliassime stopped chasing the ball because he thought he had won the point. This is because Draper appeared to hit the ball into the ground, before it came back into contact with his racket and went over the net.

Except the chair umpire called game, set and match, with Auger-Aliassime looking at Draper in confusion. Draper seemed unsure if he had made the shot in time, but Auger-Aliassime was stunned when the two met at the net.

Auger-Aliassime tried to explain that the ball had been hit into the ground by Draper, although his opponent was confused. Draper admitted that he did not know whether the hit should have counted or not. The chair umpire said that he could do nothing, as he had awarded the match to Draper, which left Auger-Aliassime stunned. Despite the controversial decision and the protest, the Canadian accepted defeat with class.

The backlash from the tennis world came swiftly, with fans and former players in disbelief at the decision and the lack of technology in the tennis world to resolve the situation. And Djokovic took to social media to denounce the ugly drama, claiming it would be easy to introduce video replays for chair umpires to prevent such mistakes from happening again.

It is shameful that we have no video footage of these situations on the court, wrote Djokovic, who had taken a break from the tournament after winning gold at the Olympics. What is even more ridiculous is that we have no rule that allows chair umpires to change the initial decision based on the video review that takes place off the court!

Everyone watching TV sees what happens on the replay, but the players on the court are left in the dark and don't know what the result is.” Djokovic added: We have Hawkeye calling the lines, we live in the technologically advanced 21st century! Please make sure this nonsense never happens again! Tennis fans were similarly baffled by the decision, with Rennae Stubbs questioning whether Draper should have known whether he had made the shot or not.

Coco Gauff called for the introduction of replays and technology on clay courts at the Olympics after feeling cheated by a call in Paris. Gauff questioned why technology and replays could not be used in the sport to ensure that major mistakes are not overlooked.

I think we should have a VR system (video review) in tennis because these kind of points are important. And yes, usually they apologize afterwards, so it's quite frustrating when the sorry doesn't help you when the match is over, Gauff said after her elimination from the Olympics.

Carlos Alcaraz apologizes after racket smash

Meanwhile, Alcaraz has apologized for breaking one of his rackets in a rare outburst from the Spanish superstar in his defeat to Gael Monfils. Alcaraz claimed he played the worst match of his career in Cincinnati and exploded from behind in the third set.

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After the match, Alcaraz admitted that he didn't want to be on court anymore after his astonishing level of tennis after months of playing at the highest level. “That never happened before, because I was able to control those feelings,” Alcaraz said after breaking his racquet. “Today I couldn't. I felt like I wasn't playing tennis at all. That was really frustrating for me. At a certain point I didn't want to be on court anymore.”

And Alcaraz took to social media after the backlash to apologize for breaking the racket, claiming his attitude wasn't good but that he would improve in the run-up to the US Open.