Players who want to send a narrow or controversial call to a line judge at the Australian Open or glare at a line judge will find it difficult this year. There will be nothing.
In a Grand Slam first, there will be no judge in court on any of the tournament tracks, reducing the number of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only players, chair referees and ball kids will be on the court.
Tennis Australia announced on Wednesday the launch of live electronic line calls, saying that motion-activated and pre-recorded voices will be used for the terms “off”, “foot error” and “error” in matches during the tournament from 8 to 21 February.
Live electronic line calls are delivered through remote detection cameras across the court, which automatically send the audio calls in real time.
“The Australian Open will be the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce a live electronic line that will appeal to all venues, including the major stadiums,” said Craig Tiley, director of the Australian Open.
The new system would mean fewer challenges of line calls by players and spend less time reviewing replays on the big screens of the stadium.
“The system will automatically show ‘close calls’ on the big screen on shots that end,” the tournament emailed The Associated Press in a separate statement. ‘This is standard 150 millimeters (just less than six inches) or less for a rally or 50 mm (two inches) or less for a service.
“If a player asks if he wants to see a point-and-shoot recording that is not automatically animated, the game can be stopped if the chairman thinks the request is reasonable, and the chairman must announce the replay. Play should not continue until the recording is shown on the big screen. “
Last year at the US Open, Novak Djokovic was disqualified in 1st place during his fourth round match because he accidentally hit an emergency ball at a line judge. During that tournament, electronic line calls were used at out-of-court courts, but line judges were still used in the main showrooms.
Djokovic later called for tennis to be permanently switched to electronic line calls, although he said it was not related to his eviction in New York.
“I received a lot of criticism because I said we should consider the line judges,” Djokovic said last year. ‘It’s an opinion I’ve had for several years now, it had nothing to do with me being disqualified during the US Open.
“I’m not a person who worships technology and cannot live without it. In some ways, in my opinion, technocratic society has gone too far, but if we can be more efficient and precise in tennis, why not?”
This week, the same system is being used at Melbourne Park for six tuneup tournaments. Next week at the Australian Open they will make an extra contribution.
The pre-recorded votes will be the voices of Australia’s frontline workers in the country’s pandemic response, firefighters, firefighters and other emergency services personnel.
“A ‘Behind the line’ tribute will introduce the heroes of the community who will appear as the official votes in every match,” said Tennis Australia.