Welcome to the Wimbledon briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.
On day 12 of Wimbledon 2024, Daniil Medvedev called for more technology at Grand Slams, a remarkable Wimbledon streak got snapped, and Novak Djokovic showed how to defang a very sharp slice.
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Another call for VAR in tennis?
At the French Open, it was Coco Gauff playing Iga Swiatek and asking for technology similar to football’s video assistant referee (VAR) system. The umpire judged that a late “out” call from a line judge did not distract Gauff when hitting a return off a Swiatek serve in their semifinal. The ball was ruled to be in, and Swiatek was awarded the point, despite Gauff’s frustrations — and she later said that video technology could have shown whether the call had affected her shot.
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French Open semifinals: Should tennis have VAR? Is Swiatek’s serve even better?
On Friday, Daniil Medvedev’s turn to ask for greater technological intervention.
Chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore called a double bounce on Medvedev’s attempt to reach an Alcaraz drop shot when facing break point during the first set of their Wimbledon semifinal. Medvedev was furious, and…
