

By Chris Oddo | Saturday, May 30, 2015

Victoria Azarenka made a coherent case for instant replay on Saturday in Paris after her loss to Serena Williams.



Photo Source: Clive Mason/ Getty

“The call was bull**it, and everybody knows it,” Victoria Azarenka told reporters after her hard-fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 loss to Serena Williams on Day 7 of the French Open.



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She was right about the call, but before you go lambasting her for taking credit from Serena Williams, don’t be mistaken. Azarenka’s not that type of person. The feisty world No. 27 gave Williams plenty of credit for the win, and admitted that the point in question, which came late in the second set and nullified what would have been a crucial save of a break point for Azarenka, was not the turning point of the match (see below).





“Turning point? No,” she said. “Very important point? Yes.”



Contrary to what people might want to believe after their on-court beef during the second set, there’s a lot of respect between Azarenka and Williams.



“It's emotions,” Azarenka admitted. “You know, during the match it's difficult to react or not react in that moment. So I think that in that moment—I don't know if it depended too much on her. You know, you can always give your opinion, but in the end, it was chair umpire's call. So that was his mistake.



It clearly was Kader Nouni’s mistake. On the controversial play, with Azarenka serving at 4-5, ad-out, Azarenka’s drive struck the line, forcing an error off the racquet of Williams, and it all happened before the “out” call came. Problem is, it happened so fast that umpire Kader Nouni was at a loss. Stuck in a difficult situation, with two players bickering about the call around him, he played it safe.

Replay of controversial 30-40 point in Azarenka-Williams match. Out call was super late. Serena had finished swing. pic.twitter.com/wU4IjcL2gT — Jeff Sikes (@JeffSikes) May 30, 2015