Every point matters in tennis. How would you feel if you lost a point for no reason? That’s how Jannik Sinner’s Girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya feels. The US Open controversial faceoff between Anna Kalinskaya and Beatriz Haddad Maia is proof that a mistake can make or break a player’s momentum. What happened?

A controversial umpire call led to the Russian star’s defeat. This took place despite the availability of VAR technology and hence, many are questioning its effectiveness.

The controversial moment occurred during the second set of the match between Kalinskaya and Haddad Maia at the US Open. With Kalinskaya leading 2-0 and Haddad Maia serving, a drop shot by Kalinskaya led to a collision between the two players as Haddad Maia attempted to reach the ball. Kalinskaya’s subsequent swing was affected by the collision, resulting in a confusion.

The point was given to Haddad Maia, but Kalinskaya challenged the decision using the video review system. The match was delayed for four minutes while the chair umpire, Miriam Bley, along with the spectators, watched the review before declaring the point valid with the statement: “Ladies and gentlemen, as we have just seen on the video review, to me, it would appear that the call was correct and that the ball touched the racket before it touched the ground a second time. Therefore, the original call stands,” Bley told the crowd, as reported by New York Post.

Kalinskaya-Maia match was the fifth instance where video review was used at this year’s US Open. And Bley made the faulty call, which might have contributed to Kalinskaya losing her match with 6-3, 6-1. After Bley told the players that Haddad Maia would keep that point, Kalinskaya walked away shaking her head. What was the root cause of this controversy?

USA Today via Reuters Aug 8, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Anna Kalinskaya plays a shot against Lesia Tsurenko (UKR, not shown) in second round play at Sobeys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

The issue was the angle from which the chair umpire judged the review call. “After the review was complete, an additional angle was seen on the broadcast. The chair did not see this footage prior to making the call,” USTA spokesman Brendan McIntyre said. The footage Bley saw only allowed her to determine whether there was a double-bounce before Haddad Maia made contact, but not whether the ball came off her racket and then hit on her side of the court before going over the net.

The first one was at the Cincinnati Open during the R16 match between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jack Draper. During the 3rd set, Aliassime hit a ball toward Draper, and despite the ball being low on Draper’s side, it hit the court first before the Briton sent it back to the Canadian.

However, the Umpire could not notice the instance when the ball hit the court on Draper’s side and awarded Briton the point. It seemed that Aliassime committed a fault. However, there have been a few instances of faulty calls this season.

Coco Gauff had protested at the French Open. Moreover, top players have suffered throughout their careers. During these instances, the VAR system was not at the disposal, to review the call with a replay. And, at the US Open, the fault happened despite VAR being extensively used. It has somewhere become the highlight of the faulty call this season!

Hence, Anna Kalinskaya vs Beatriz Haddad Maia match garnered widespread criticism for the ineffective usage of the technology at its disposal. But this is all in the past now.

Today, the Brazilian is all set to clash with Karolina Muchova during the quarterfinals. Do you think she could make her way to the semifinals? Do let us know in the comments!