Who remembers John McEnroe’s famous “You cannot be serious!” rant at Wimbledon 1981 when disputing a close line call with the officials? That, and many other similar incidents involving any number of other players throughout the years have provided an interesting sideshow to the tennis action. But when was the last time you saw such a heated exchange over a close line call?
Not for a couple of years, I’m willing to bet. The reason? The adoption of the Hawk-Eye computer system which tracks the position of the ball and is able to display instant replays of where each shot lands in the case of disputed line calls. At the start of each set, each player is allocated two chances to challenge a call which they believe to be incorrect and get instant objective feedback that demonstrates whether the ball was in or out. If the challenge is upheld the call is overruled and the player retains the challenge; otherwise the player loses one challenge.
This now forces players to either “put up or shut up” when it comes to line calls. If the player genuinely believes the call to be wrong he or she can dispute it in a legitimate way and either be vindicated immediately or have the call confirmed. The result may at times genuinely shock the player – but it’s not surprising that he or she will sometimes believe a ball to favour them simply because they desperately need it to, regardless of whether it actually does or not.
Either way, having objective proof that the umpire and line judges are not out to get them can help players channel their thoughts and energy into the match rather than directing it at the officials, and can also help the line judges to call it as they see it and not allow themselves to be intimidated by the players.
The fact that there is now a legitimate process for dealing with disputes also undermines the negative tactics of players who in the past may have gotten away with causing an on-court disturbance for no other reason than to disrupt their opponent’s rhythm, regardless of whether the player truly believed the call to be wrong. Many have used such underhand tactics to great effect to unsettle their opponent, and in my opinion there is no room in tennis for subtle cheating of this kind.
For these reasons I believe the adoption of this technology to be a good development and one that enhances rather than detracts from the wonderful game of tennis.