‘They stole the game’ – electronic line call fails at Wimbledon

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said a game was ‘stolen’ from her when Wimbledon’s electronic line-calling system failed during her fourth-round match against Britain’s Sonay Kartal.

There was no ‘out’ call when a Kartal backhand went long at 4-4 in the first set, with chair umpire Nico Helwerth shouting “stop, stop” to halt play.

Russian 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 said the electronic system “was unfortunately unable to track the last point so we will replay the point”.

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.

A frustrated Pavlyuchenkova was heard telling the umpire at the changeover: “I don’t know if it’s in or out. How do I know? How can you prove it?

“Because she is local they can say whatever. You took the game away from me.

“They stole the game from me. They stole it.”

A spokesperson for the All England Club said: “Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question.

“The chair umpire followed the established process.”

The automated line-calling system, which was introduced at Wimbledon for the first time this year, has been under scrutiny this week, with several players questioning its accuracy and sound level.

Debbie Jevans, chair of the All England Club, said on Friday she was confident in the accuracy of the electronic line calling and in the decision to bring it in.

Call fails on big stage after week of scrutiny

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

Such an obvious failure on the biggest stage – on Centre Court, in a match featuring a British player – has ensured this topic will not go away.

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Line judges have been replaced by technology at many top-level tournaments, including the US Open and Australian Open.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

• Raducanu among players questioning electronic line calls
• Why ‘best-dressed officials’ are missing from Wimbledon
• ‘I can’t hear it’ – Wimbledon’s first day of electronic calling