Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova accuses officials of home bias after technology failure
Umpire Nico Helwerth stopped the point to check whether the technology, which has controversially replaced line judges this year, had worked, informing the crowd after a delay that it had not.
Intriguing scenes!
Pavlyuchenkova thinks Kartal has put her forehand long and stops before the Brit slams back a winner.
The umpire checks and confirms the electronic line calling system was unable to track the point, which leads to the point being replayed.#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Qkz3Rickj5
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 6, 2025
With no official evidence of whether the ball was in or out, Helwerth ordered the point to be replayed, and Pavlyuchenkova, who would have won the game had the shot been called out, went on to drop serve.
The 34-year-old reacted furiously at the change of ends, saying to Helwerth: 'Because she is local, they can say whatever. You took the game away from me.'
TV replays showed the ball was considerably long, and Wimbledon revealed the problem had been caused by human error.
A spokesman said: 'Due to operator error, the system was deactivated on the point in question. The chair umpire followed the established process.'
Pavlyuchenkova discussed the matter with Helwerth after the match, and she said: 'It was very confusing in the beginning because the ball looked very long to me.
'It was a very crucial moment in the match. I expected a different decision. I just thought also the chair umpire could take the initiative. That's why he's there sitting on the chair. He also saw it out, he told me after the match. I don't know if it's something to do because she's local.
'I think we are losing a little bit of the charm of actually having human beings. Like during Covid, we didn't have ball boys. It just becomes a little bit weird and robot sort of orientated.
'They're very good at giving fines, though, and code violations. This they don't miss because every time any little thing, they are just right there on it. I would prefer they looked at the lines and call the errors better.'
Kartal, who insisted she did not know if the ball was in or out, defended Helwerth's handling of the situation.
'That situation is a rarity,' she said. 'I don't think it's really ever happened. It's tough luck. What can you do? The umpire is trying his best in that situation. I think he handled it fine. I think the fairest way was what he did, to replay the point.'
Pavlyuchenkova regrouped well after the incident, saving a Kartal set point and going on to claim a 7-6 (3) 6-4 victory and a place in the quarter-finals.
Asked how she would have felt had she lost, the 34-year-old joked: 'I would just say that I hate Wimbledon and never come back here.'
The incident is hugely embarrassing for Wimbledon, with organisers having staunchly defended the innovation amid controversy over the removal of line judges.
Britain's leading duo Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu have both complained about the accuracy of the system, which is now widely used on the tour, this week.
After her defeat by Aryna Sabalenka on Friday, Raducanu said: 'It's kind of disappointing, the tournament here, that the calls can be so wrong.'
Pavlyuchenkova also has her doubts, saying: 'Sometimes when we play, I'm thinking, 'Am I crazy, or I just feel like the ball is long?' Then nothing is happening. There is no automatic line calling.
'The chair umpire was so confused. I think the chair umpire needs to maybe have a clear plan if that happens. We probably should have this system like in football to review.'
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Officials blamed human error for the incident at a crucial stage of the fourth-round match between Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, with the system inadvertently turned off and not flagging that a shot from the British player was out. Pavlyuchenkova, who would have moved 5-4 ahead had the call been made, was furious with umpire Nico Helwerth for ordering the point to be replayed, accusing him of stealing the game and the tournament of home bias. Organisers apologised to both players, and chief executive Sally Bolton said: 'It was important for us to to explain as much as we could at that point in time what we believed had happened, and to apologise to the players for it happening in the first place. 'We're deeply disappointed that this has happened in the Championships. It was a human error. The ball-tracking technology is working effectively.' The system has replaced line judges for the first time this year and such a high-profile malfunction is hugely embarrassing for the All England Club. Bolton refused to go into the details of how the error had happened, or to explain what safeguards had been put in place during a briefing with reporters on Monday morning. 'I wasn't sat there, so I don't know what happened,' she said. 'It was clearly deactivated in error, because you wouldn't ordinarily deactivate a set of cameras mid-match intentionally. 'Once this happened, we did a full review of all of our systems and processes to check all of those kinds of things and to make sure that, both historically and moving forward, we have made the appropriate changes that we needed to make. So we're absolutely confident in the system.' There was also criticism of Helwerth for not calling the ball out once it became clear the system had failed and instead ordering the point to be replayed, with Kartal going on to win the game, leaving her serving for the first set. The German umpire, one of the sport's leading officials, was notably absent from the schedule on Monday, although Wimbledon organisers insisted it was simply his day off. Pavlyuchenkova said in her post-match press conference: 'I just thought also the chair umpire could take initiative. That's why he's there sitting on the chair. He also saw it out, he told me after the match. He probably was scared to take such a big decision.' Bolton cited a breakdown in communication between the review official and the umpire, with Helwerth unaware that the system had not been working previously during the game. It is also a big week in a different type of court for the All England Club, with a judicial review into the decision to grant planning permission for its expansion into neighbouring Wimbledon Park taking place at the High Court on Tuesday and Wednesday. There has been vehement local opposition to the scheme, which will see 39 new courts, including an 8,000-seat show court, built on the site of a former golf club. Wimbledon chair Debbie Jevans will be at the High Court on Tuesday, and Bolton said: 'We remain really confident that we'll make the progress we need to make.'
Glasgow Times
16 minutes ago
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Wimbledon chiefs retain confidence in line-calling tech despite Sunday's blunder
Officials blamed human error for the incident at a crucial stage of the fourth-round match between Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, with the system inadvertently turned off and not flagging that a shot from the British player was out. Pavlyuchenkova, who would have moved 5-4 ahead had the call been made, was furious with umpire Nico Helwerth for ordering the point to be replayed, accusing him of stealing the game and the tournament of home bias. Chief executive Sally Bolton defended the line calling system (Adam Davy/PA) Organisers apologised to both players, and chief executive Sally Bolton said: 'It was important for us to to explain as much as we could at that point in time what we believed had happened, and to apologise to the players for it happening in the first place. 'We're deeply disappointed that this has happened in the Championships. It was a human error. The ball-tracking technology is working effectively.' The system has replaced line judges for the first time this year and such a high-profile malfunction is hugely embarrassing for the All England Club. Bolton refused to go into the details of how the error had happened, or to explain what safeguards had been put in place during a briefing with reporters on Monday morning. 'I wasn't sat there, so I don't know what happened,' she said. 'It was clearly deactivated in error, because you wouldn't ordinarily deactivate a set of cameras mid-match intentionally. 'Once this happened, we did a full review of all of our systems and processes to check all of those kinds of things and to make sure that, both historically and moving forward, we have made the appropriate changes that we needed to make. So we're absolutely confident in the system.' There was also criticism of Helwerth for not calling the ball out once it became clear the system had failed and instead ordering the point to be replayed, with Kartal going on to win the game, leaving her serving for the first set. The German umpire, one of the sport's leading officials, was notably absent from the schedule on Monday, although Wimbledon organisers insisted it was simply his day off. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was unhappy with the incident (Mike Egerton/PA) Pavlyuchenkova said in her post-match press conference: 'I just thought also the chair umpire could take initiative. That's why he's there sitting on the chair. He also saw it out, he told me after the match. He probably was scared to take such a big decision.' Bolton cited a breakdown in communication between the review official and the umpire, with Helwerth unaware that the system had not been working previously during the game. It is also a big week in a different type of court for the All England Club, with a judicial review into the decision to grant planning permission for its expansion into neighbouring Wimbledon Park taking place at the High Court on Tuesday and Wednesday. There has been vehement local opposition to the scheme, which will see 39 new courts, including an 8,000-seat show court, built on the site of a former golf club. Wimbledon chair Debbie Jevans will be at the High Court on Tuesday, and Bolton said: 'We remain really confident that we'll make the progress we need to make.'
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Wimbledon overhauls Hawk-Eye to avoid error repeat
Wimbledon Hawk-Eye software at the centre of the electric line-calling failure has been overhauled to ensure there are no more 'human error' mistakes. The technology has been amended urgently so operators can no longer accidentally untick the cameras following the mistake at a crucial stage of the fourth-round match between Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. During the incident in question, the cameras that monitor the ball on one side appeared to have been switched off with one click without the operator noticing. Intriguing scenes! Pavlyuchenkova thinks Kartal has put her forehand long and stops before the Brit slams back a winner. The umpire checks and confirms the electronic line calling system was unable to track the point, which leads to the point being replayed. #Wimbledon — BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 6, 2025 The error has left officials 'deeply disappointed' with the failure. But as investigations were launched into the situation, the All England Club has been left certain the technology has been operating flawlessly when it is in operation. Pavlyuchenkova, who would have moved 5-4 ahead had the call been made, was furious with umpire Nico Helwerth for ordering the point to be replayed, accusing him of stealing the game and the tournament of home bias. Organisers apologised to both players. Chief executive Sally Bolton said on Monday: 'It was important for us to to explain as much as we could at that point in time what we believed had happened, and to apologise to the players for it happening in the first place. We're deeply disappointed that this has happened in the Championships. It was a human error. The ball-tracking technology is working effectively.' The system has replaced line judges for the first time this year and such a high-profile error has been hugely embarrassing. Wimbledon is convinced, however, that its technology tweak on Monday has addressed the issue.
