Kazakh tennis player of Russian origin Elena Rybakina commented on the incident with the electronic line system after the decision in favor of her opponent Zheng Qinwen in the round of 32 match at the WTA tournament in Madrid, Reuters quoted her as saying.
Rybakina lost the opening set in the “thousandth” match in Madrid against reigning Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, who is the 36th WTA racket. In the second set, the Kazakh player had a one-game advantage at 4:3, but during the Chinese representative's serve, an incident occurred with the system.
In the eighth game, Qinwen was awarded an ace on her serve at 40-0. Rybakina invited the umpire to come down from the tower and review the ball trail herself, which is common practice for clay court tournaments, but umpire Julie Kiendly said she was unable to do so.
Ultimately, Rybakina won two more games to win the second set, taking the game to a third set, which Qinwen won to advance to the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid. The match ended in 2 hours and 23 minutes.
“The system is wrong, it's no joke. I don't trust this thing at all. Because there was no sign, even close to what was shown on the screen,” Rybakina noted.
Rybakina compared the incident to the scandal involving Alexander Zverev at the same tournament a year ago, when the German was accused of unsportsmanlike conduct after he took a photo of a ball mark after a controversial system decision.
“I think it was similar to what happened with Zverev last year, because it was right in front of [the umpire's] nose. It was quite disappointing, like a stolen point,” Rybakina said. “I understand it was her [Qinwen's] serve and she served very well, but it's very annoying.”
Alexander Zverev at the ATP 1000 tournament in Madrid in 2025. AP/Manu Fernandez
Rybakina's next opponent was Austrian Anastasia Potapova, who defeated Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in three sets in her round of 32 match.