Kristina Mladenovic called for a football-style VAR system to be introduced in tennis after her Roland Garros opponent profited from a double bounce to help knock the Frenchwoman out of her home Grand Slam on Tuesday. Mladenovic was 5-1 up and with a set point against Laura Siegemund when the German scooped a winner despite the ball appearing to bounce twice. The incident was missed by chair umpire Eva Asderaki. World number 44 Mladenovic pleaded in vain before Siegemund took full advantage, racing into the next round with a 7-5, 6-3 win.
"It would be great to have that," said Mladenovic when asked if video replays should be introduced in tennis.
"It'd be a pity to replace a human with a camera but to err is human. I don't see how the umpire could not see it. Unfortunately, she continues at Roland Garros but I do not."
It was a second successive miserable Grand Slam for the 27-year-old Frenchwoman who was withdrawn from the doubles at the US Open earlier this month in a row over coronavirus.
Despite her disappointment, Mladenovic refused to blame Siegemund for not calling the incident on herself Tuesday.
"Well, she would have been the best and most fair player on the tour if she would have done that. Unfortunately, she didn't. I didn't expect her to do it," added Mladenovic.
"But if she would have done it, she would have all my respect and be super-fair play. She's not the one responsible. I think the chair umpire is the one that should be really focused on that call. The set was mine. It was just unlucky for me that the chair umpire didn't do her job."