Raducanu does not trust 'dodgy' electronic line calls

BBC News

19 hours ago

Emma Raducanu says she does not trust the electronic line calling at Wimbledon, pointing to "dodgy" calls in her defeat by world number one Aryna Sabalenka.The Briton was particularly unhappy when a shot from the Belarusian was judged to have clipped the line midway through the first set."That call was for sure out," Raducanu said after a closely fought 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 loss where she went toe-to-toe with the top seed for much of the match."It's kind of disappointing 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."Wimbledon replaced line judges this year with the technology, which is being used at many other top-level tournaments, including the US Open and Australian Open.Asked if she trusted the electronic line calls, Raducanu replied: "No, I don't trust the line calls - I think the other players would say the same thing, there were some pretty dodgy ones but what can you do?"Raducanu is not the only player to question the accuracy of the system, with British men's number one Jack Draper saying after his second-round defeat by Marin Cilic on Thursday: "I don't think it's 100% 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."
It is not just the accuracy of the automated 'out' calls that have been questioned this week, with players saying they have also been too quiet.Raducanu said she had not been able to hear all of the calls during her match against Sabalenka on Centre Court, where the roof was closed and the partisan fans were noisy during a gripping encounter."Some of them were a little bit quiet or dulled out by the crowd," she said. "But overall you kind of have an idea if the ball was in or out. And then hope that Hawk-Eye calls it the same."Sabalenka agreed, adding: "It was quite loud and I think people also weren't sure if it's in or out. So there was a little pause and then they figured [it out] by the scoreboard."When there were human line judges, players could challenge the calls by using electronic reviews, which were shown on a big screen. Now the screens show replays of close calls but they can not be overruled.Raducanu said she thought the Hawk-Eye electronic line calling system "was way more accurate back in the day when there were lines judges and you could challenge". "It's difficult to deal with. And also [it is] a shame that the tradition's kind of been broken with the linesmen and women," she said, referring to the smartly dressed officials who were a familiar sight around the court.When it announced it would be introducing the technology this year, Wimbledon said it considered "the technology to be sufficiently robust and the time is right to take this important step in seeking maximum accuracy in our officiating".Earlier this week Wimbledon's operations director Michelle Dite was asked about the player feedback about the sound level of the calls and she replied: "The team are obviously working to make sure that it's optimum. "We're also just making sure that it's not too loud and it disrupts the play on the next court. It's always something that's being managed, and the teams will take all the feedback and keep working on it as we go."Wimbledon has not commented on the most recent players' concerns about accuracy.