Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes aim at line-calling system after blatant out call missed in technological mishap
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was left fuming on centre court after an electronic line-calling system failure "stole" a game from her during her fourth-round win over Sonay Kartal.
A shot from Kartal that clearly landed long at 4-4 in the first set wasn't called out because the electronic system that replaced line judges at Wimbledon this year was accidentally shut off for three points.
With the replay review procedure that used to be in place also scrapped, the chair umpire called for a do-over on the point, much to the dismay of Pavlyuchenkova.
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“You took the game away from me,” 2021 Roland-Garros runner-up Pavlyuchenkova told chair umpire Nico Helwerth at the changeover after the game ended.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova speaks to the chair umpire as line-calling system is checked for a fault. Getty
"I don't know if it is in or if it is out. How do I know? You can not prove it.
"They just stole the game from me."
Pavlyuchenkova, who is Russian, also said in the moment that the decision-making there went in Kartal's favour because she is a local player.
Still, she eventually did manage to come back to win the match 7-6 (3), 6-4 and reach the quarter finals at the All England Club for the first time since 2016.
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Pavlyuchenkova's next match will be against No.13 Amanda Anisimova of the United States, a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 winner against No. 30 Linda Noskova on Monday.
Anisimova was also a Wimbledon quarter finalist in 2022. Her best slam showing was making the semi finals at Roland-Garros in 2019 when aged 17.
A replay of Sonay Kartal's shot that bounced out but was missed by the line-calling system. Nine
At her press 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.”
Pavlyuchenkova also said Helwerth “probably was scared to take such a big decision”.
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 calls, 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," she said.
"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.
“I think the system just malfunctioned a little bit, and the fairest way was what he did: replay the point.”
Helwerth delayed the play while he made a phone call from his stand. When play resumed, Pavlyuchenkova missed a forehand, then lost the game a few points later.
Chair umpire Nico Helwerth makes a call to clarify an error with the line-calling system. Nine
The tournament blamed “human error" for the mishap, saying that the line-calling set-up “was deactivated in error on the part of the server’s side of the court for one game by those operating the system".
According to an All England Club spokesperson, organisers "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 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 advanced to the quarter finals, didn't see what happened, but when it was explained by a reporter, he questioned why the chair umpire didn't just make the call himself if it was so clear.
“The chair umpire has to make the call,” 2024 US Open finalist Fritz said.
“Why is he there if he’s not going to call the ball?”
