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Emma Navarro called for a change in the rules after a controversial moment during her Australian Open quarter-final loss to Iga Swiatek.
The second seed continued her romp through the draw with a 6-1 6-2 victory to set up a meeting with Madison Keys.
The only real moments of pressure came early in the second set and particularly at 2-2 on the Swiatek serve, when the Pole won the game after umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore failed to spot that the ball had bounced twice before Swiatek got to a short ball.
Navarro protested but was denied a video review because she carried on playing the point.
Use of replays was first introduced at the US Open in 2023, and the American believes the rule should be changed to allow a review at the end of a point.
Navarro said: “I think it should be allowed to see after the point even if you play. It happened so fast. You hit the shot, and she hits it back, and you’re just, like, ‘Oh, I guess I’m playing’.
“In the back of your head you’re, like, ‘OK, maybe I can still win the point even though it wasn’t called. It’s going to be a downer if I stop the point and it turns out it wasn’t a double bounce’. It’s tough.”
I wasn’t sure if it was a double bounce or I hit it with my frame
Iga Swiatek
Navarro was not bitter towards Swiatek, saying: “It’s in the moment. I don’t know if she knew or not. Ultimately, it’s up to the ref to make the call. It’s tough to place blame on anybody.”
In the men’s match that followed, Lorenzo Sonego did successfully review a similar call against Ben Shelton.
Swiatek pleaded ignorance, saying: “I didn’t see the replay because after the point I didn’t look up at the screens because I wanted to stay focused and didn’t want this point to stay in my head for a longer period of time.
“I wasn’t sure if it was a double bounce or I hit it with my frame. It was hard to say because I was full sprinting. I don’t remember even seeing the contact point.
“I thought this is the umpire’s job to call it. I was also waiting for the VAR, but I didn’t see it, so I just kind of proceeded.”
Swiatek did not echo Navarro’s call for a rule change, likening the system to line call challenges.
“This is the first time something like that happened to me, so I’m not sure,” she said. “But I think they already had a lot of time to think it through. So, if there would be some better option, I think tennis would use it.”
Swiatek was certainly a worthy winner of the match and has dropped just 14 games so far in five matches – a feat bettered under the current format by only Maria Sharapova, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf.
The 23-year-old won the US Open in 2022 but her grand slam results away from Roland Garros – where she has four titles – have been disappointing since, with two quarter-finals the best she had managed until now.
Asked if she felt she had a point to prove away from clay, Swiatek said: “For sure. This is something that I always wanted to improve. This year I felt like I should just focus on work and have the same mindset as in practices, just improving point by point.
“It has been working. It’s not like I need to prove it to other people. It’s more that I need to believe. I feel I believe more now.”
Keys has also matched her best result here having first made the semi-finals a decade ago.
The American made it 10 victories in a row to start the season, coming from a set down to defeat Elina Svitolina 3-6 6-3 6-4.
“It feels great,” said 29-year-old Keys, whose best grand slam run was a US Open final appearance in 2017.
“I’m really, really proud of myself to be in another semi-final here and hoping and looking forward to see if I can make it one step further.”
