'Stole the game': Wimbledon line-calling tech malfunctions

The Star

2 days ago

Umpire Nico Helwerth checks on a line call as Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova plays Sonay Kartal of Britain during a fourth round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on Sunday, July 6, 2025. — AP
LONDON: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said a game was "stolen" from her after Wimbledon's electronic line-calling system failed at a key moment in her fourth-round match against Sonay Kartal on July 6.
The Russian put the controversy behind her to beat the British player 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in just over two hours on Centre Court.
But the glitch in the fourth-round match follows concerns raised by other players about the technology.
A fully automated system has replaced human line judges at Wimbledon in 2025, ending nearly 150 years of history.
On Sunday, a tight first set between Pavlyuchenkova and Kartal was marred by a computer failure that could have proved pivotal.
At 4-4, Pavlyuchenkova, who had saved two break points in the game, held game point when a Kartal backhand landed clearly over the baseline but no call came.
Chair umpire Nico Helwerth shouted "stop, stop" to halt play.
Addressing the crowd, Helwerth said: "We're just going to check if the system was up and running, because there was no audio call."
After a telephone call, he said the electronic system "was unfortunately unable to track the last point so we will replay the point".
Kartal went on to break for a 5-4 lead.
Pavlyuchenkova angrily made her case to the umpire, saying: "They stole the game from me, they stole it."
Bu the Russian world number 50 broke back and won the tie-break to take a firm grip on the match, breaking twice in the second set to progress to the quarter-finals.
The All England Club released a short statement on the incident.
"Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question," said an spokesman.
"The chair umpire followed the established process."
Automated line-calling technology has become standard across tennis, with all events on the men's ATP Tour and many WTA tournaments using it.
The Australian Open and the US Open are fully automated but the French Open remains an outlier, sticking to human line judges.
Britain's Emma Raducanu said she was unhappy about one call in particular during her defeat by Aryna Sabalenka on Friday.
Jack Draper, the men's fourth seed, queried the accuracy of the system after his second-round defeat by Marin Cilic.
Wimbledon chiefs have said they are confident in the technology.
"Live electronic line-calling technology is now widely used week in and week out on tour," a spokesman said on Saturday.
"The technology goes through a rigorous certification process and meets the (agreed) standards... so we can provide maximum accuracy in our officiating."
Pavlyuchenkova will play Linda Noskova or Amanda Anisimova in the last eight.
The 34-year-old was diagnosed with Lyme disease in February and has spent several months struggling to recover her form. – AFP