07/06/25 03:29:00
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07/06 15:28 CDT Wimbledon says a call on a shot that landed out was missed
because the electronic system was off
Wimbledon says a call on a shot that landed out was missed because the
electronic system was off
By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer
LONDON (AP) --- A ball that clearly landed long in a match at Centre Court
wasn't called out Sunday because the electronic system that replaced line
judges at Wimbledon this year accidentally was shut off for three points.
And, because the replay review procedure that used to be in place also has been
scrapped, the chair umpire called for a do-over on the point at 4-all in the
first set --- much to the dismay of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the player who
would have won the game if the proper call had been made originally.
Pavlyuchenkova wound up getting broken there to trail Sonay Kartal of Britain,
but she eventually did manage to come back to win the match 7-6 (3), 6-4 and
reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club for the first time since 2016.
"You took the game away from me," 2021 French Open runner-up Pavlyuchenkova
told chair umpire Nico Helwerth at the changeover after the game ended.
Pavlyuchenkova, who is Russian, also said in the moment that the
decision-making there went in Kartal's favor because she is a local player.
At her news conference, Pavlyuchenkova said Helwerth told her following the
match that he did think Kartal's shot landed out.
"I think he felt bad, a little bit," Pavlyuchenkova said. "He probably felt
like he should have taken the initiative and called it out."
She also said Helwerth "probably was scared to take such a big decision."
Pavlyuchenkova was serving and had a game point when Kartal hit a backhand that
landed beyond the opposite baseline, TV replays showed. But there was no sound
of one of the recorded voices being used for the first time at Wimbledon to
reflect when the technology being used in place of human officials determines
that a ball landed out.
At least Pavlyuchenkova could joke about the whole episode later. Asked how
she'd feel about it had she lost the match, Pavlyuchenkova responded with a
laugh: "I would just say that I hate Wimbledon and never come back."
She also cracked that chair umpires are "very good at giving fines and code
violations" and never miss those, but perhaps it would be beneficial if they
did a better job of noticing mistaken calls.
Kartal said she couldn't see where her shot went.
"That situation is a rarity. I don't think it's really ever happened --- if it
has. It's tough. What can you do? The umpire's trying his best in that
situation, and he handled it fine," Kartal said. "I think the system just
malfunctioned a little bit, and the fairest way was what he did: replay the
point."
Helwerth delayed play while he made a phone call from his stand. Eventually,
play resumed, Pavlyuchenkova missed a forehand on the replay, then lost the
game a few points later.
The tournament looked into it afterward and blamed "human error," saying that
the line-calling setup "was deactivated in error on part of the server's side
of the court for one game by those operating the system," according to an All
England Club spokesperson, who added: "We continue to have full confidence in
the accuracy of the ball-tracking technology."
The spokesperson also said Pavlyuchenkova and Kartal received apologies from
the club.
The French Open is now the only Grand Slam tournament that still uses line
judges instead of electronic calls.
From 2007 through last year, players were allowed to challenge in-or-out calls
at Wimbledon; a video review was employed to decide whether a line judge's ---
or chair umpire's --- ruling was correct. That challenge system was removed for
the current tournament, but there immediately were demands on social media from
some tennis fans or observers to bring that back to aid chair umpires.
Pavlyuchenkova agreed, saying: "We should probably look into something else to
have better decisions."
Taylor Fritz, who reached the quarterfinals with a win at a different court
Sunday, didn't see what happened. But when it was explained by a reporter, his
biggest question was why the chair umpire didn't just make the call himself if
it was so clear what actually happened on Kartal's shot.
"The chair umpire has to make the call," 2024 U.S. Open finalist Fritz said.
"Why is he there if he's not going to call the ball?"
___
More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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