It was a roller-coaster ride during their semi-final match at the 2021 French Open, with momentum constantly shifting between Barbora Krejcikova from Czechoslovakia and No. 17-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece. The match went down to the wire with Sakkari serving to stay in the match at 7-8 in the 3rd set. When she pounded a forehand toward the baseline, everyone thought it landed out and even Krejcikova began celebrating the same.
But the chair umpire, Pierre Bacchi came down and decided the ball landed in – even though a TV replay after the decision clearly showed the ball was out.
He came and he’s like, ‘It’s in,’ and I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no. Why? But what can I do? I cannot change his decision. It’s fine; let’s go. Let’s try to just win the next one.
Barbora Krejcikova
Twitter erupted with tweets from top coaches and players, and journalists alike, blaming the umpire for giving a wrong decision.
HAWKEYE.!!!!!!!! OMFG
— Rennae Stubbs OLY (@rennaestubbs) June 10, 2021
Krejcikova thinks she's won it – the umpire disagrees – point to be replayed …
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) June 10, 2021
Sakkari saves with a 1-2 punch! pic.twitter.com/1tUmGLKTJo
The discussion of hawkeye being used in clay court tournaments has long been a controversial issue. Many players prefer to overlook occasional bad lines calls and go with the tradition of umpires making the final calls. But more and more players, coaches and enthusiasts want accuracy in the calls, no matter who gets the point.
hopefully egregious mistake by umpire today, can lead to hawkeye being at all big clay court events in 2022 @andy_murray time to quit being stubborn the tournaments
— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) June 10, 2021umpire almost cost Krejcikova a trip to finals @rolandgarros
Hawkeye has disagreed with SO many line calls at the French Open this year, including many that both the player and chair umpire agreed on, so let's not pretend like we know for a fact that call was wrong, folks.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) June 10, 2021
Even Andy Murray chimed in, saying that it was a brutal call from the umpire.
That is an absolutely brutal error from the umpire
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) June 10, 2021
Despite the drama, Krejcikova kept her cool and managed to convert her fifth match point, solidifying her spot in the 2021 French Open final. Her opponent this Saturday will be 29-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who also advanced to her first major final by beating unseeded Tamara Zidansek, 7-5, 6-3.