“If there was a better option, tennis would use it” – Swiatek on video review

At the Australian Open, there is a video review system available to check an alleged double bounce – but only if the opponent immediately stops the point.

Iga Swiatek got her racquet on a ball that bounced twice on her side of the net during her quarter-final in Melbourne, but because opponent Emma Navarro carried on playing, there was no video review called in.

Asked about it in her press conference, Swiatek said: “Honestly, I didn’t see the replay after this point because after the point I didn’t look up for the screens because I wanted to stay focused and didn’t want this point to stay in my head for longer period of time.

“I wasn’t sure if it was a double bounce or I hit it with my frame. It was hard to say because, like, I was full sprinting. I don’t remember, like, even seeing the contact point. I don’t know. Sometimes you don’t really look when you hit the ball, so I wasn’t sure. I thought this is like the umpire’s kind of job to call it, you know. I was also waiting for the VAR, but I didn’t see it, so I just kind of proceed. I already focused on the next one.”

Swiatek: It’s the referees’ job to make the right rules

When asked whether she thought the rule should be changed so that the umpire could review it regardless of the opponent calling for it, she responded: “Honestly, this is first time something like that happened to me, so I’m not sure.

“But I think they already had kind of a lot of time to think it through. So if there would be some better option, I think tennis would use it. We already had some, like, tense situations in other matches and also ATP last year. I guess the referees kind of think about it. It’s their kind of job to make the proper rules.”

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