Wimbledon urged to introduce VAR after bizarre moment in Jannik Sinner match

John McEnroe has suggested that VAR should be introduced at Wimbledon after what happened during Jannik Sinner's showdown against Jan-Lennard Struff.

Sinner secured a straight-sets victory against his German counterpart to book his place in the semi-finals, but what looked like a comfortable win on paper was anything but for the reigning champion.

The first set hinged on a single break, as the 24-year-old kept his composure to secure a 7-5 win, and it was a similar story in the second. Sinner went 6-5 behind before showcasing nerves of steel to win a tie-breaker 7-4.

The world No.1 then capitalised against a tiring Struff in the final set to confirm a 3-0 triumph and continued his run of not dropping a set in his previous four Wimbledon matches, with the winner of either Novak Djokovic or Felix Auger-Aliassime waiting for him in the semi-finals.

A topsy-turvy showdown on Court One didn't come without its controversy, though, as John McEnroe gave his instant verdict on a bizarre moment during Tuesday's match.

Early in the second set, Sinner had a break point when a spare ball fell out of the German's pocket mid-rally. The umpire called a let, giving Struff the chance to keep himself in the game.

As per the competition's rules, the umpire has the discretion to award a point to a player's opponent if they think the offence was deliberate, but there was no suggestion of ill intent, and Struff was handed a lifeline.

"The ball fell out of his pocket," McEnroe told the BBC. "First [time it happens] they play a let then second time he loses the point."

McEnroe was then shown a replay of the incident, and he claimed that his opponent could have been looking to have a 'break' after a long rally before suggesting the possibility of introducing VAR (Video Assistant Referee) for incidents like this.

"Let's see if he did it on purpose... no". He then joked: "It's a long rally! I need a break here. Whoops. I'm probably not going to win this point!'" the five-time Wimbledon champion exclaimed.

"They should go to video replay in the future, and see if the person's done it deliberately. Now, in that case, it was not deliberate," he admitted.

Jannik Sinner offers update after playing in Wimbledon heat

Temperatures soared above 30℃ during Sinner's triumph against Struff, and previously, the Italian has suffered in those conditions.

Sinner was knocked out in the second round of the French Open after struggling in the heat, but he showed no signs of his performance levels dropping at Wimbledon, admitting that he prepared well in the event of high temperatures.

READ MORE: How Wimbledon fans can still get last-minute final tickets without queueing

"We worked a lot after Paris, trying to understand what went wrong there and we prepared ourselves in the best possible way," he said after reaching the semi-finals.

“It was a huge test today, but I felt really comfortable on the physical side today so it’s a good step forward.

“But at the same time, if it happened again like in Paris, we know that we need to change a couple of things again.

“But I am very happy to be back in the semis.”

Sinner now has a couple of days to recover before playing either third seed Auger-Aliassime or seventh seed Djokovic in the last four on Friday.