‘Human error’ – Wimbledon sorry over missed line calls

Wimbledon organisers have apologised after the electronic line-calling system on Centre Court was turned off in error and missed three calls in one game.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said a game was ‘stolen’ from her after there was no ‘out’ call when a Sonay Kartal backhand went long in the first set of their fourth-round match.

The Russian stopped after seeing the ball go long, and chair umpire Nico Helwerth halted play.

The All England Club initially said the system was “deactivated on the point in question” due to “operator error”.

A spokesperson said later on Sunday that, after further investigation, it was found that the technology was “deactivated in error on part of the server’s side of the court for one game”.

During that time three calls on the affected side of the court were not picked up.

Helwerth – who did not know the system had been turned off – called two of them himself before the incident highlighted by Pavlyuchenkova.

“We have apologised to the players involved,” a spokesperson for the All England Club said.

“We continue to have full confidence in the accuracy of the ball tracking technology.

“In this instance there was a human error and as a consequence we have fully reviewed our processes and made the appropriate changes.”

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Had the ball been called out, Pavlyuchenkova would have won the point and taken the lead.

Instead, it was replayed, Kartal won the point and went on to break for a 5-4 lead.

Pavlyuchenkova had seen the ball was out – and a TV replay showed that was the case by some distance.

Addressing the crowd, Helwerth said: “We’re just going to check if the system was up and running, because there was no audio call.”

After a telephone call, he announced the electronic system “was unfortunately unable to track the last point” and ordered the point to be replayed.

The rulebook states that if the electronic line calling system fails to make a call, “the call shall be made by the chair umpire”.

It adds: “If the chair umpire is unable to determine if the ball was in or out, then the point shall be replayed. This protocol applies only to point-ending shots or in the case when a player stops play.”

The fact Pavlyuchenkova went on to win the match meant the malfunction was not as costly as it could have been, although she still questioned why the umpire did not call it out.

“That’s why he’s there,” she said. “He also saw it out, he told me after the match.

“I thought he would do that, but he didn’t. Instead they just said replay.

“I don’t know if it’s something to do [with Kartal being] local.

“I think it’s also difficult for him. He probably was scared to take such a big decision.”

‘You took the game away from me’

Pavlyuchenkova was clearly frustrated when she returned to her chair at the end of the game.

She told the umpire: “I don’t know if it’s in or out. How do I know? How can you prove it?

“You took the game away from me … They stole the game from me. They stole it.”

The automated line-calling system was introduced at Wimbledon for the first time this year.

Debbie Jevans – chair of the All England Club – said on Friday she was confident in its accuracy and the decision to bring it in.

Electronic line-calling technology has been under scrutiny this week at Wimbledon, with a number of players saying they do not trust it.

Britain’s Emma Raducanu has been one of those to voice concerns, saying some of the calls had been “dodgy”, while former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic said the technology was a topic of discussion among players in the locker room.

Bencic said she was usually a fan of the technology but “it is not correct” at this tournament.

Line judges have been replaced by technology at many top-level tournaments, including the US Open and Australian Open.

Jevans previously said the technology was brought in because “the players wanted it” and some have backed the system, with former world number one Iga Swiatek saying she has had doubts but “has to trust” the calls.

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‘Let’s just play without umpires’

When there were line judges, players could challenge the calls by using an electronic review. There are no challenges under the current system and video replays are not used.

Pavlyuchenkova suggested tennis should use video checks like football does “so that we can review the point”.

“On such a big event I think it is necessary, since this isn’t the first time this has happened,” she told BBC Sport.

She said umpires were there to make big decisions otherwise they could “just play without them”, adding: “I think the chair umpire should be able to take initiatives.

“That’s what he is there for and that’s why he is sitting in that chair, otherwise I think we could have also had a match without a chair umpire.

“They have no problem giving us fines and code violations, for any reason sometimes. So I would like them to be a bit more intensive to this sort of situation.”

Pavlyuchenkova added in a news conference: “I would prefer they looked at the lines and call in the errors [and] mistakes better.”