Roland-Garros Director Addresses Controversy from Casper Ruud's Loss & Electronic Line-Calling

French Open director and two-time Grand Slam singles champion Amélie Mauresmo backed the decision to have line judges and umpires make all line calls at the event despite a controversial call during Casper Ruud's fourth-round loss against João Fonseca on Sunday.

Although there have been requests from fans and observers to utilize technology in order to make line calls electronically, Mauresmo suggested that the system isn't yet accurate enough to use on clay courts, telling reporters Monday, "What we observed at the clay-court tournaments leading up to Roland Garros is that the reliability of this system is not absolute. As of today, the machine is not 100 percent reliable, so we continue to place our confidence in human officials."

During a second-set tiebreak, Fonseca hit a shot that would have won Ruud the set if it was called out. The chair umpire checked the ball mark and called it in, however, and Ruud went on to lose the point and the set.

The electronic line call showed the ball as out on television, but since that is not part of the French Open's process for making calls, the umpire's decision stood.

With that, Ruud went down 2-0 in sets, and he ended up losing the match in four sets.

After the match, Ruud told reporters he thought the shot in question was "marginal, either in or out," before adding, "So if I win that set, maybe it can be two-one up instead of two-one down. Instead of love-two, you're one-all. So that's unfortunate, obviously, in my situation."

The French Open is the only one of the four Grand Slam tournaments that does not use electronic line calls in some form or fashion.

While Mauresmo stressed the importance of "reaffirming our trust in human officials," she did not rule out the possible institution of line-calling technology next year, saying, "We've made that choice for 2026. As for 2027, we'll see. We remain open to any new technology that becomes available to us."

The controversial call in Ruud vs. Fonseca was a microcosm of the wild and unexpected nature of the men's tournament at the 2026 French Open thus far.

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz did not play in the tournament due to injury, while No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 4 Novak Djokovic suffered early exits.

Before his loss to Fonseca, Ruud had been one of the top contenders remaining in the field as a two-time French Open finalist.

Entering play on Monday, the top seeds still alive in the tournament were No. 2 Alexander Zverev, No. 4 Félix Auger-Aliassime and No. 10 Flavio Cobolli.