US Open 2023: VAR farce as Andy Murray wins before telling tennis chiefs to ‘get that fixed’
Andy Murray shrugged off a bungled attempt to use video review technology for the first time at the US Open before advancing to the second round with a straight sets defeat of France’s Corentin Moutet.
The 36-year-old 2012 US Open champion delivered a composed performance to outlast Moutet 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 on the Grandstand Court.
The Scottish veteran will now face Bulgaria’s 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the second round on Thursday.
Tuesday’s first-round tussle was notable for a bizarre incident in the final set, when Moutet requested a video review after chair umpire Azemar Engzell awarded Murray a point for a double-bounce.
Although replay footage displayed on stadium screens appeared to show the point had been correctly awarded, Engzell said officials were unable to review the incident properly and so attempts to use the video review system – being deployed at the US Open for the first time this year – were abandoned.
“I don’t know exactly how it’s supposed to work and who’s supposed to make the decision on it because it was quite clear from the second video that the ball had bounced twice,” Murray said afterwards.
“We watched it about 10 times. It clearly is not the umpire that’s making that decision. I don’t know how the technology works.
“But it obviously didn’t go to plan in a pretty important moment of the match. So, yeah, it would be good if they could get that fixed.”
Murray went on to serve out for the match, completing an encouraging win.
The Scot has battled a litany of injury problems in recent years, but believes he is playing at his highest level since 2017.
“I’m at my highest ranking [37] since I had my metal hip put in,” the two-time Wimbledon champion said. “I’m happy with that. It’s not been an easy journey.
“I would like to be ranked higher, but this is the best I’ve played consistently since 2017.
“I’m happy to still be going, still progressing, and hopefully I can keep pushing my ranking up.”
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