Wimbledon have made controversial but correct decision – just ask the players

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Wimbledon's decision to replace humans with technology, to favour ingenuity over tradition, was always going to prove controversial.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club – a bastion of tradition, somewhere that puts a high price on heritage – decided this year to scrap line judges. Out with the 147-year old – 300 of them, to be exact – and in with the new: the Live Electronic Line Calling from HawkEye.
The decision to take away jobs from human beings and hand it to AI is unpopular and topical in a world where many industries are embracing technology at a rapid rate.
"Having reviewed the results of the testing undertaken at The Championships this year, we consider the technology to be sufficiently robust and the time is right to take this important step in seeking maximum accuracy in our officiating,' chief executive Sally Bolton explained in October.
So this year, it is a dismembered voice that players and spectators hear when a ball lands out of the court. There are two of them, female and male, and there have already been some giggles from the crowd as they get used to the new system, which announces 'out!' even when the ball drops several feet from the baseline.
But what has been noticeable after one day of play in SW19 is the lack of pushback from the players themselves. They are used to the system, which is already in place at the Australian Open and US Open and has also been embraced by the ATP Tour.
Without the chance to challenge, decisions are simply accepted, however begrudgingly. The work of the chair umpire must have become easier overnight and, undoubtedly, the speed of play is up, with players unable to chance their hand with a speculative review in order to buy themselves a few more seconds to catch their breath. Challenges can bring added drama to proceedings, but more often than not they detract from the spectacle.
Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova is one of the minority who has spoken out against the change. 'I mean, to be honest, I like the old traditional style, so I like it the old way,' she said. However, the prevailing mood is one of acceptance; of a small mourning for the loss of tradition but of happiness with the new black and white nature of line calls.
'Speaking as a player, we will have less discussion because I think it's really tough to judge, especially right now, with the ball going really fast,' said world No.7 Lorenzo Musetti. 'In the modern days, I think we will need more help from technology. I agree with this change, especially here on grass.'
Cameron Norrie, who beat Roberto Bautista Agut on Court 18 on Monday, had no gripes whatsoever. 'To be honest, it's good,' he said. 'You get on with it. There's no kind of getting mad at anyone for missing a call or saying something or moving during the point or something happening. You get on with it.'
The only grievances have been about the volume of the line calls. 'The voice, I cannot really hear it, it is a bit too low,' said Yuan Yue, who played Eva Lys on court eight on Monday.
'I asked the referee can you [turn] it up a little bit. He said he cannot. He said he will try to let us know [the call] because he has a machine that can look it up. I don't really mind, I just want to hear it clearly.'
That is a minor issue, which presumably can be rectified by HawkEye. So, looking beyond the wider moral issue of AI taking jobs away from humans, there is little to get worked up about.
Wimbledon is a forward-thinking, extremely well-run event and their decision to evolve with the times has served to improve their product. In time, the call will be looked back upon favourably.