Andre Agassi's ex-coach criticizes Jelena Ostapenko for her repeated complaints about line calls at Australian Open
Andre Agassi's former coach Brad Gilbert has called out Jelena Ostapenko for her reactions to the electronic line calling system in her match against Elena Rybakina.
Ostapenko, a former French Open champion, has constantly complained about the line calls during her matches at the Australian Open. Line calls are being made electronically at the tournament, with no human intervention.
Gilbert on his social media platform criticized the Latvian for her behavior and asked what the situation would've bene like if the players were making the calls themselves.
"Can u imagine playing Penko with no lines persons with players making the calls?" tweeted the American.
can u imagine playing Penko with no limes persons with players making the calls
Gilbert, who coached Andre Agassi for eight years from March 1994 to January 2002, also stated that Rybakina dominated Ostapenko during their quarterfinal match.
"Rybakina who definitely 👍 needs a nic name all over penko, who is continuing this constant complaining of calls," he stated.
needs a nic name all over penko, who is continuing this constant complaining of callsRybakina who definitely 👍 needs a nic name all over penko, who is continuing this constant complaining of calls
"I'm not really happy with the system they are using" - Jelena Ostapenko on the electronic line calling system
Jelena Ostapenko bowed out of the 2023 Australian Open after losing her quarterfinal match against reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-2, 6-4.
In her post-match press conference, the Latvian stated that she was not happy with the electronic line calling system being used at the tournament. The system is used at various events around the world and was introduced to minimize the use of line umpires during the Covid- 19 pandemic.
"Honestly, I'm not really happy with the system they are using. But couple times it was really, like, not even by couple centimeters. It was much more than that. But I cannot do anything about it, because it is the way as it is," said Ostapenko.
The Latvian further stated that the system makes the decisions very late and differs from how line umpires used to make calls during matches.
"But I feel like some lines, sometimes the system is not, how you say, not ignoring, but sometimes the calls are -- first of all, they are really late sometimes. You already hit the ball, and then you hear "Out," which is normally not the way it is with the line umpires," she said.
Ostapenko in convinced that some balls are called wrong by the system.
"And second of all, some balls were quite, how you say, not a little out. They were a bit out and they were not called," she added.