MADRID : Elena Rybakina said she had lost trust in the electronic line-calling system after a disputed call marred her three-set victory over Zheng Qinwen at the Madrid Open on Sunday.
The Kazakh player, who recently won the Australian Open, was left frustrated when Zheng was awarded an ace at 40-0 while serving at 4-3 in the second set, despite what appeared to be a clear mark showing the ball had landed out.
“Well with this thing, I won’t trust it at all,” Rybakina told reporters after her 4-6 6-4 6-3 win secured a place in the last 16. “Because there was no mark even close to what the TV showed.”
Rybakina compared the incident to a clash involving Alexander Zverev at the Madrid tournament last year, when the German was penalised for unsportsmanlike conduct after taking a photo of a contested mark.
“It was, I think, similar to what Zverev had last year because it was in front of her nose. You can’t not see it. It was pretty frustrating,” she said. “It’s kind of a stolen point. I understand it was her serve and she was serving really well, but it’s really frustrating.”
Rybakina will next face Anastasia Potapova for a place in the quarter-finals.
