By Chris Oddo | Saturday, May 30, 2015
Victoria Azarenka made a coherent case for instant replay on Saturday in Paris after her loss to Serena Williams.
Photo Source: Clive Mason/ Getty
“The call was bull**it, and everybody knows it,” Victoria Azarenka told reporters after her hard-fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 loss to Serena Williams on Day 7 of the French Open.
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She was right about the call, but before you go lambasting her for taking credit from Serena Williams, don’t be mistaken. Azarenka’s not that type of person. The feisty world No. 27 gave Williams plenty of credit for the win, and admitted that the point in question, which came late in the second set and nullified what would have been a crucial save of a break point for Azarenka, was not the turning point of the match (see below).
“Turning point? No,” she said. “Very important point? Yes.”
Contrary to what people might want to believe after their on-court beef during the second set, there’s a lot of respect between Azarenka and Williams.
“It's emotions,” Azarenka admitted. “You know, during the match it's difficult to react or not react in that moment. So I think that in that moment—I don't know if it depended too much on her. You know, you can always give your opinion, but in the end, it was chair umpire's call. So that was his mistake.
It clearly was Kader Nouni’s mistake. On the controversial play, with Azarenka serving at 4-5, ad-out, Azarenka’s drive struck the line, forcing an error off the racquet of Williams, and it all happened before the “out” call came. Problem is, it happened so fast that umpire Kader Nouni was at a loss. Stuck in a difficult situation, with two players bickering about the call around him, he played it safe.
What also was clear, is that the incident was more positive proof that tennis very badly needs to put some sort of instant replay in place. That’s something Azarenka could get behind. “Sometimes we need to have a review,” she said. “You know, to have a damn review, because it was so clear... I'm not saying this as an excuse or saying because of that point I lost the match, that's not what I'm saying. But in that moment, if you don't have a review like that, it's causing a lot of problems, really. So maybe there is something you can do about it, because it's always this rule that is umpire's call, and I don't get it.”
She added: “How would you call that? She already hit the ball. The ball was touching the net and he says it's not a late call. So for me, there definitely has to be a review on that. We have a Hawk-Eye, so might as well just have that. Because it's not easy for an umpire, but it's definitely not easy on the player when you get screwed like that.”
Williams, who has endured more than her share of bad calls during her career, chimed in as well, saying “I think that [using instant replay] would be really cool, because sometimes you may or may not foot fault (a reference made humorously to one of her most publicized run-ins with a lineswoman)… And obviously other things, as well. I think it could definitely not only be fun for the fans, but as well be helpful for the players to have. I think that's a really great idea.”
Kudos to both for making the case, but let’s not let this story detract from the massive effort that Williams made to turn around a match that was in Azarenka’s possession for nearly two sets. Azarenka played lights-out tennis for the opener, and she continued that form in the second, even as Williams began to connect with jaw-dropping force, particularly on the backhand side.
A one point, as Williams mounted her surge from down a break in the second set, NBC commentator John McEnroe moaned in near disbelief “You can’t hit a ball any better than that,” when Williams laced a down-the-line winner. This was a contest played at a fever pitch, with a ferocity and a spirit unmatched by any other in the tournament’s first week, men’s or women’s.
After an early break gave Azarenka a 2-0 lead in the decider, Williams ratcheted her intensity up further. She would finish with 41 winners against just 23 unforced errors (Azarenka had 21 winners against 21 unforced). Her red-lined game was necessary to derail Azarenka, who even in defeat showed that she may still be the game’s second-best player.
“I think she's definitely a top 5 player,” Williams said. “I feel like she's playing really well. She knows how to be a champion. I still think that she can come back and be one of the best or if not "the" best in the world.”
In the end, however, it was Williams proving that she is indeed the game’s best player, no matter the venue, no matter the surface. Asked where she ranked today’s victories among the others she’s played on Roland Garros’s revered Court Philippe Chatrier, Williams summed her performance up aptly. “I put that one pretty high, because I was just really down and out in that match, and I just feel like, you know, I just really zeroed in,” she said. “I really focused and I really wanted to win that.”
Now the first woman in Open Era history to win 50 matches at each of the four Grand Slams, Williams will head into week two with confidence on high. Somehow, despite having won everything there is to win, her hunger to win more seems to grow.