The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has decided to do away with line officials and introduce the Hawk-Eye Live system for all 1000 Masters hard events to be held this year. The live call system – which makes immediate decisions on long or wide balls – will be featured this year at the Australian events, along with the Australian Open which starts next week. . This is the second Grand Slam – after the US Open 2020 – to implement this feature.
The ATP tour, which deals with men’s tennis, is a competition structure divided into four groups. The lowest level is the Challenger Circuit, followed by the ATP 250, ATP 500, and finally the ATP 1000 Masters. Similarly, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has the highest WTA 1000, followed by WTA 500, WTA 250 and WTA 125. The highest ratings however are the four Grand Slams.
This pandemic-time move to introduce a Hawk-Eye Live system, according to Tennis Majors, aims to disqualify the court at a tennis match.
Of the nine ATP 1000 events, six are played on hard courts – Indian Wells (postponed this year, but could be postponed to a later date) Miami, Canada (Montreal and Toronto every second time), Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris. WTA 1000 will take place alongside the Masters at three of these venues – Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati. Although the WTA has not announced the use of the technology at any of its events this year, it can be assumed that the system will be available for women ‘s games as the same courts are divided.
At the moment, the regular Hawk-Eye system (which does not include instant calls, and instead revises when a player requests it) is the minimum required for it. -all hard and grass court events starting from the ATP 250 and WTA 250 level. At the same time you don’t have to have clay court contests and don’t use any revision technology.
Although the decision to introduce the Live system comes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, players, including World No 1 Novak Djokovic, have been there before. call for the change to remove the human error element in line calls.
When it comes to people attending court at a game, including line (judges), I really don’t see a reason why what we had would not be in all compete in this world, in this technologically advanced time, during the Cincinnati / New York Championships, ”Djokovic said of Hawk-Eye Live in October at the French Open.
“I feel we are all moving towards that, and sooner or later there is no reason to keep line umpires. ”
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Nick Kyrgios of Australia returns to Alexandre Muller of France at a fonnup tournament ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournaments in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, February 2, 2021. (Photo AP / Andrew Brownbill)
How to reduce court collection?
At this time, there would be at least 14 people in a tour-level game, with the exception of players – six ball kids, one chair umpire and seven line umpires. With the introduction of Hawk-Eye Live that number will be reduced to seven (just children of the ball and umpire chair).
Has the Live system been used before?
The regular Hawk-Eye was first introduced to the tour in 2006. As it worked it was only reviewed once a skeptical player called for a call. umpire line. The Hawk-Eye Live system, which makes all line calls instantly, was first used at the 2018 ATP Next rounds, on an experimental basis. But it was only at the Cincinnati Masters in 2020 – which was moved to New York – where the technology was used at a high-end level for the first time.
Since then, it has been used at the U.S. Open and ATP Finals in November.
Why not use it at every competition?
It is very expensive. The New York Times reported that the Live system costs USD 25,000 (over INR 18 lakh) to install per court, per contest. To put that in perspective, consider Balewadi Tennis Stadium in Pune – the venue that hosts the only ATP 250 event in India, the Tata Open Maharashtra, and ATP Challenger.
Three courts are used for matches at the center, which means that 75,000 USD (INR 55 lakh) would be required to install the system. At the same time the last edition of the Pune Challenger, in 2019 (just under INR 40 lakh) had a total prize purse of USD 54,160.
So only the cash-filled events like the Masters and Grand Slams can pay to use the technology.
How useful is it?
The system has been well received by players in general.
“The system works very well. I think it completely eliminates any of the measurement jobs, ”said Kevin Anderson, former World No. 1 champion. “That kind of automation is happening all over the world, in so many different industries. It seems to make sense, especially during this time. I say maybe (COVID-19) accelerates that, because it definitely reduces human interaction. ”
The system does not, however. Hawk-Eye’s margin of error is around 3.6 mm, less than the minimum requirement of five mm imposed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
“That means that, regardless of our signal, the ball could land 3.6 mm on each side,” a Hawk-Eye engineer told the Indian Express in 2016.
NYT had also reported that Hawk-Eye Live had made 225,000 calls in the first week of the U.S. Open, 14 of which were errors (0.0062 percent).
Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland returns to Sam Querrey of the United States at a tone match ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournaments in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, February 2, 2021. (Photo AP / Andrew Brownbill)
How will it affect line umpires?
The technology may affect the conveyor belt of high-rise umpires. To become a chair umpire, it is necessary to start by serving throughout the ranks of the tennis court.
Removing line umpires from events like the Masters and Grand Slams – where the best players in the world compete – may take away the experience an officer might have. to be a strong chair umpire. It also removes those at the bottom of the employment chain.
Why not use clay court proceedings?
Three Masters tours – in Madrid, Monte Carlo and Rome – are held on clay courts. Competitions on the red dirt, including the French Open, will not use either the standard Hawk-Eye or the Live system.
“Clay courts leave a mark (where the ball came ashore) which is very accurate. That’s why competitions like the French Open prefer to use traditional methods of getting the chair down to find out where the ball came ashore, ”said engineer Hawk-Eye .
“The only problem is that there will be confusion about the picture that the player has challenged. ”
In his second-round match at Roland Garros against Roberto Carballes Baena, World No 12 Denis Shapovalov was attending for the match when a bullet from his opponent, who appeared to be long, was called in. Replays suggested that the ball was indeed out, and that they should have given Canada a pitch. If there had been a review system, Shapovalov could have called for it. He reprinted the replay, with the caption: “When will we have Hawkeye on Clay? ”
He went on to lose the game.