Ai, ai, AI: Wimbledon blames ‘human error' for line-calling glitch on Centre Court
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29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Aryna Sabalenka passes treacherous Laura Siegemund test to reach Wimbledon semi-finals
Aryna Sabalenka was forced to dig deep in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Tuesday, as the world No 1 fended off a spirited challenge from 37-year-old doubles specialist Laura Siegemund. Sabalenka, a two-time grand slam champion, continues her pursuit of a first Wimbledon title, having fought from behind to see off Siegemund 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Centre Court. • Follow Wimbledon day nine live: Brit Norrie faces champion Alcaraz Siegemund showed off a dynamic game but could not overcome the powerful Sabalenka, who prevented the German from beating her best singles result at a grand slam. Siegemund holds two major crowns in mixed doubles, having won the French Open last year and the US Open in 2016, and she also possesses a slam title in women's doubles: the 2020 US Open. But as a singles player, Siegemund has never passed the quarter-finals, which she reached in Paris in 2020 and again this week. Numerous top seeds had fallen in the early stages of the women's draw, but Sabalenka avoided such a fate in week one and was able to keep marching here. Siegemund showed immense threat from the get-go, breaking Sabalenka's serve in the very first game, before turning that into a double break. Sabalenka, 27, immediately got one of those breaks back, and the players traded another break each as the set went on. In a 5-4 lead, Siegemund earned rapturous applause as she moved to 30-0, outfoxing the Belarusian in an entertaining point, before wrapping up a hold of serve and the first set. Throughout, the German was utilising crouching slices to neutralise Sabalenka's power, while she often played remarkably deft drop shots immediately after her own serves. There was another trade of breaks early in the third set, as Sabalenka moved to 2-0 then saw the deficit reduced to 2-1, and Siegemund levelled the set with a hold to love – sliding to the turf as she converted game point at the net. At 3-2 in Sabalenka's favour, Siegemund was on course for a straightforward hold of serve but let the game slip, and it was comfortable for Sabalenka from there on out. The world No 1 even broke Siegemund's serve again for a 5-2 lead, and despite Siegemund showing resolve to save a set point, Sabalenka converted the next. An early break from Siegemund early in the third set had her back on course for a huge upset, but Sabalenka fought back to tie the third set at 3-3. There, the 27-year-old saved break point, but she lassoed a forehand wide to give Siegemund another chance, before netting a backhand that put Siegemund within two games of the semi-finals. Yet at 4-3, Siegemund was forced to fend off numerous break points, and her resistance and serve were broken when she sliced a forehand beyond the baseline. Sabalenka held serve and, despite Siegemund saving match point, was able to produce one more break to dismiss the underdog, booking a spot in the final four as a result. 'She pushed me so much,' Sabalenka said on court after her win. 'Honestly, after the first set, I was saying to my box: 'Book the tickets, about to leave this beautiful city.' 'But she played an incredible tournament. I'm so happy to win, the atmosphere was incredible. It's a smart game, she makes everyone work against her, you have to work for every point. 'It's beautiful if you've made it to the second week, you're achieving your dreams. You have to enjoy your life.' Sabalenka previously reached the semi-finals in SW19 in 2021 and 2023, while her three major titles have come at the Australian Open (2023, 2024) and US Open (2024). As well as seeking a first Wimbledon final, Sabalenka is aiming to put behind her the heartbreak of losing this year's French Open final.
35 minutes ago
Wimbledon: No. 1 Sabalenka gets past No. 104 Siegemund to reach the semifinals. Taylor Fritz wins
LONDON -- LONDON (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka trailed by a set, then twice was down a break in the third before grabbing the last three games to reach the Wimbledon semifinals by overcoming 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at Centre Court on Tuesday. 'She pushed me so much,' said Sabalenka, No. 1 since last October. 'After the first set, I was just looking at my box, thinking, 'Guys, I mean, book the tickets. I think we're about to leave this beautiful city, country, place.'' Sabalenka never has been to a title match at the All England Club, the only Grand Slam tournament where that's the case. She won the Australian Open twice and the U.S. Open once, and was the runner-up at this year's Australian Open ( losing to Madison Keys) and French Open ( losing to Coco Gauff). The 27-year-old Belarusian lost in the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2021 and 2023. On Thursday, she gets a third chance in that round. Sabalenka will meet either No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova or 50th-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the player who was robbed of a point when the electronic line-calling system accidentally was turned off during a Centre Court match. Sabalenka hadn't dropped a set during this year's trip to the grass-court major until Tuesday — but she also hadn't faced an opponent whose style is quite as an unorthodox as that of the 37-year-old Siegemund. The German, who eliminated No. 6 Keys last week, was the oldest and by far the lowest-ranked of any woman in the quarterfinals, as well as the one with the fewest career titles (two). She arrived at Wimbledon with a career record there of 2-5 and with a 4-9 mark on tour in 2025. But her ability to change the depth, speed, angles and spins of her shots over and over can frustrate any opponent and dull the type of power that Sabalenka brings to the court. And, make no mistake: Sabalenka was frustrated, especially in the final set. 'It's not like it's an annoying game. It's a smart game. She's really making everyone work against her,' Sabalenka said. 'You know you have to work for every point. It doesn't matter if you're a big server, if you're a big hitter. You have to work. You have to run. And you have to earn the win.' As her mistakes mounted, she would look up at her box with a quizzical expression and raise her hands. After missing one forehand off a short ball, she knelt on the grass near the net. After getting broken for the sixth time of the afternoon to fall behind 4-3 in the last set, Sabalenka broke right back to open her match-ending run. In the next game, she finally delivered her lone two aces of the match, one at 103 mph, the other at 116 mph. When Sabalenka produced a volley winner to break again and end things after nearly three hours, she shut her eyes, spread her arms wide and let out a big scream. Taylor Fritz recovered from a mid-match lull and reached the semifinals at the All England Club for the first time with a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Karen Khachanov. The No. 5-seeded Fritz, an American who was the runner-up at last year's U.S. Open, came in with a 1-4 record in major quarterfinals, 0-2 at Wimbledon. He'll now meet either two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain or unseeded Cam Norrie of Britain, who were scheduled to play each other later Tuesday. The last two women's quarterfinals are No. 7 Mirra Andreeva vs. Belinda Bencic, and No. 8 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova. The men's matchups are No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 10 Ben Shelton, and 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic vs. No. 22 Flavio Cobolli.
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Wimbledon hit with electronic line call controversy as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova says game was ‘stolen' from her
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (right) speaks to umpire Nico Helwerth during her match against Sonay Kartal. - Visionhaus/Getty Images Wimbledon organizers have apologized and explained that 'human error' was the reason behind the electronic line-calling system being turned off during a match on Sunday – and the tournament subsequently has removed the ability for operators to manually halt the tracking of the ball. The move comes after controversy stemming from a missed out call during Sunday's fourth-round clash between Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Britain's Sonay Kartal on Centre Court. Advertisement 'Following our review, we have removed the ability for Hawk-Eye operators to manually deactivate the ball tracking,' the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC) said in a statement Monday to CNN Sports. 'While the source of the issue was human error, this error cannot now be repeated due to the system changes we have made.' During the first set of the match between Pavlyuchenkova and Kartal, a backhand from Kartal went long but there was no 'out' call from the electronic system, which has replaced human line umpires at Wimbledon this year. Pavlyuchenkova, who was one point away from winning that game, stopped playing with the ball landing outside the court. Umpire Nico Helwerth called for the match to be paused, while the automated system said, 'stop, stop,' leading to confusion from both players and the fans in attendance. Helwerth informed the crowd that he was going to check if the system was 'up and running' before spending time on the phone. Advertisement After a short delay, he said that the electronic system 'was unfortunately unable to track the last point,' which was subsequently replayed. Kartal went on to win the point and break Pavlyuchenkova to take a 5-4 lead. In the change of ends, the Russian could be heard saying to Helwerth: 'You took the game away from me. … They stole the game from me. They stole it.' The automated system did not pick up on balls landing out on three occasions in the game, with Helwerth calling the other two. The AELTC stated that Helwerth did not know the system had not been running. After the match had finished – with Pavlyuchenkova eventually winning 7-6(3), 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals – a spokesperson for the AELTC said that the system had been deactivated in error by 'those operating the system' and that a full investigation had taken place. Advertisement 'We have apologized to the players involved,' the spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. 'We continue to have full confidence in the accuracy of the ball tracking technology. 'The live ELC (electronic line-calling) system relies on the Hawk-Eye operators, the Review Official and the technology to work in harmony. This did not happen. In this instance there was a human error and as a consequence we have fully reviewed our processes and made the appropriate changes.' It added that Helwerth had 'followed the established process' of replaying the point if the system goes down and it's unclear whether the ball was in or out. After booking her spot in the next round, Pavlyuchenkova called the whole situation 'confusing,' in particular when the umpire ordered the point to be replayed instead of awarding it to her. Advertisement 'I think it's good to raise this subject for the future,' Pavlyuchenkova told reporters. 'Because if anything like that happens in a very important moment of the match, I think we should have a wire system like in football. Then it's clear for everybody and we can move on right away instead of just guessing.' Pavlyuchenkova will play Amanda Anisimova in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. - Visionhaus/Getty Images The automated line-calling system has been a big talking point at this year's Wimbledon. Great Britain's top-ranked players – Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu – have both expressed their doubts about the system, with Raducanu calling it 'dodgy.' Switzerland's Belinda Bencic said that the new automated system has been a topic of discussion among players in the locker room. Advertisement The introduction of technology to replace line judges at Wimbledon follows many other tournaments around the world, including the Australian Open and the US Open. Following her win on Sunday, Pavlyuchenkova said that Helwerth 'probably was scared to take such a big decision' with the technology not working and called for more human intervention. 'That's why we have a chair umpire,' she said. 'Otherwise, I think soon let's just play without them and then we're going to have everything automatic. I think we are losing a little bit of the charm of actually having human beings, ballboys. 'Like during Covid, we didn't have ballboys. It just becomes a little bit weird and robot sort of orientated.' CNN's Ben Church contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at
