Emma Raducanu joins Jack Draper in questioning automated Wimbledon line calling
A fully automated system has replaced human line judges – whose calls could be challenged using electronic reviews – for the first time at the Championships this year.
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The two most vocal critics so far have been Britain's leading players, with Raducanu going even further than Jack Draper after feeling one call in particular, when a Sabalenka shot was ruled to have clipped the line, was wrong.
'That call was for sure out,' said Raducanu after her intense 7-6 (6) 6-4 defeat by the world number one.
'It's kind of disappointing, the tournament here, that the calls can be so wrong, but for the most part they've been OK. I've had a few in my other matches, too, that have been very wrong. Hopefully they can fix that.'
The technology has become standard across the tour, with all ATP Tour events and a lot of WTA ones no longer using line judges.
Emma Raducanu, right, shakes hands after losing to Aryna Sabalenka (Adam Davy/PA)
The same system operates at the Australian Open and the US Open but the French Open remains an outlier, so far eschewing any form of electronic system.
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Draper queried one serve from Marin Cilic during his second-round loss on Thursday, and he said: 'I don't think it's 100 per cent accurate, in all honesty. A couple of the ones today it showed a mark on the court. There's no way the chalk would have showed.'
Wimbledon organisers have been contacted for comment.
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