Quote of the Day: Coco Gauff says tennis “has to evolve” after umpire row at Roland Garros

Another day, and yet another tennis officiating debacle that could have been easily resolved with video replay and VAR technology at Roland Garros. On Thursday, the latest victim was No. 3 seed Coco Gauff, who was driven to tears after an argument with the chair umpire during her semifinal defeat to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

Down a set and on serve at 1-2 in the second, Gauff found herself asking for a replay after her opponent’s serve was initially called out. That call had been overruled by chair umpire Aurélie Tourte, who awarded the point to Swiatek as Gauff had missed the return—but the American felt they should have replayed the point, as she claimed the call affected her swing.

Read More: Iga Swiatek serves up fourth Roland Garros final, eases past Coco Gauff in Paris

If Gauff was, say, a Real Madrid soccer player competing in a UEFA Champions League semifinal—or any athlete in the high-stakes knockout rounds of almost any top flight sport, for that matter—the next move would be straightforward.

In an ideal world, the 20-year-old would have had the option to challenge the umpire's call and request a video replay using VAR. The video assistant referee, a neutral official tasked with monitoring the action and reviewing on-court incidents, would then pull up the video and audio in question for Tourte—who would be able to rewatch the moment from the chair and either revise or uphold her call. Plus, there would be the added benefit of having some “receipts” to show to Gauff, appeasing the American, before play continued.

It sucks as a player to go back or go online and you see that you were completely right. It's like, what does that give you in that moment? Coco Gauff on why tennis officiating needs to 'evolve'

But this is tennis, so none of this was an option for Gauff. Players in this situation don’t have much of a choice but to accept the umpire’s ruling, which Gauff eventually did—after letting her feelings be known as boos and whistling rained down from the fans on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“Are you serious? They are booing you because you are wrong," Gauff told the umpire, adding, “I didn’t even finish my follow through. I have the right to finish my swing. He (the line judge) called it (out) before I hit it. Can you ask him?”

"We cannot ask him," Tourte responded, adding, "To me, it didn't affect the shot."

Read More: Coco Gauff overcomes umpire dispute on her way to quarterfinals in Dubai

Play eventually resumed after their heated discussion, and though Gauff moved on from the moment quickly cameras caught the 20-year-old wiping away tears of frustration as another call went against her. The 2022 finalist slumped to a 6-2, 6-4 defeat, sending defending champ Swiatek through to face Jasmine Paolini in the championship match.

“When you're playing against her… Every point matters against anybody, but especially against her,” Gauff reflected afterward. “I think it was just one of those moments, but I overcame it. I obviously won that game.

“I usually don't get too frustrated with decisions like that, but I think it was just a combination of everything going on in the moment.”

WATCH: Coco Gauff speaks to the media after her Roland Garros semifinal defeat | Press Conference

It’s not just Gauff that’s hitting her breaking point, as this is just the latest in a string of questionable calls and high-profile clashes between players and head-cam wearing umpires that has marred the action at this year's rowdy Roland Garros and throughout clay swing, where many tournaments still rely on officials deciphering marks by hand.

After the match, Gauff accepted her defeat while giving credit to Swiatek—who improved to 10-1 against the American—but also called on the sport to “evolve” into the modern era with better technology and higher officiating standards.

Q. (Do you think) that tennis could bring in some kind of a replay appeal system, like Hawkeye, where the umpire could look at a replay of that and then make a judgment, rather than having to do it in the moment?

COCO GAUFF: 100%. I think tennis is the only sport where not only we don't have the VAR (video assistant referee) system, but a lot of times the decisions are made by one person. In other sports there's usually multiple refs in making a decision.

I definitely think at this point it's almost ridiculous that we don't have it. Not just speaking because that happened to me, but I just think every sport has it…

It sucks as a player to go back or go online and you see that you were completely right. It's like, what does that give you in that moment?

…I definitely think as a sport we have to evolve, and we have the technology. They're showing it on TV, so I don't get why the player can't see it.

With the clay season now behind her, Gauff will be back in action in Berlin, where she will kick off the grass-court swing on June 17.