American-born Canadian player and model Carson Branstine slammed the electronic line calling system in place at the WTA 1000 event of the 2025 National Bank Open in Montreal. Branstine’s criticism stemmed from a contentious moment during her first-round loss at the tournament to Maria Sakkari. The 24-year-old also clashed with a couple of fans over the incident.
On Monday, July 28, Branstine, currently ranked at World No. 191 on the WTA Tour’s singles rankings, locked horns with former No. 3 Sakkari on Centre Court at Montreal’s IGA Stadium. The Greek registered a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory to secure her progress to the second round of the prestigious WTA 1000 hardcourt event.
However, at a crucial juncture of the contest, a point was controversially awarded to Maria Sakkari. The Greek hit a deep backhand that appeared to land out, but there was no out call from the electronic line calling system. Carson Branstine returned Sakkari’s shot with a backhand of her own, but the Canadian’s shot was well out, and the point went to the Greek.
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In the aftermath of the result, a fan on X (formerly Twitter) called out the decision and also shared a video of the controversial moment.
"Video review needs to be better. This is a joke. Branstine lost such a crucial point. Sakkari got away with big point here," the fan wrote.
Later, Branstine took notice of the video and delivered her own reaction, opining that she should have been allowed to at least replay the point. The American-born Canadian wrote:
"They didn’t let me replay this clear mistake by the electronic line call because I played the shot after…BRUH obviously I tried to play the shot the damn thing didn’t call the ball out 😭 what’s a girl supposed to do"
Carson Branstine clashes with fans over electronic line calling criticism
After noticing Carson Branstine's criticism of the electronic line calling system at the 2025 National Bank Open, a tennis fan on X claimed that the backhand from Maria Sakkari had landed in, writing:
"Ball was in, with half a milimeter, but in"
However, Branstine was having none of it, and the 24-year-old fired back.
"Did you forget to do your physics homework because the ball didn’t bounce yet in this image and there is already space between the ball and line if you put your glasses on 🙃," Branstine wrote.
Another fan also had a go at the Canadian, opining that her future on the WTA Tour is ill-fated.
"Everytime Carson Branstine plays, i cheer for whoever is on the other side of the net. Dont think we will be seeing much of her in the near future though," the fan stated.
Once more, though, Branstine had a response.
"1) why im just girl 2) you will be seeing me 3) good vibes only," the WTA No. 191 replied.
Carson Branstine made her WTA Tour-level main-draw debut earlier this year at the Libema Open. She also qualified for the women's singles main draw at the Wimbledon Championships, where she suffered a first-round loss to reigning World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
