Alex de Minaur has once again been speaking about the controversy surrounding electronic line calling.
After all, it was a topic ridden with controversy during Wimbledon, in what was the first iteration of the tournament without human line judges.
In what was a sad departure from tradition, which makes up the fabric of the All-England Club, the justification for such a bold change was in the name of fairness and increased accuracy.
And yet, for many different reasons, it regularly failed to do that throughout arguably the biggest tennis tournament in the world.
Asked about it, and his thoughts on the change throughout the sport, he did not hold back in his assessment.
Alex de Minaur says if he prefers electronic line calling over human line judges
Chatting to the press at the Washington Open, after winning his opening-round match against Yunchaokete Bu, attention turned to Hawkeye.
De Minaur admitted: “Yeah, it is quite difficult, obviously. The automated live system has taken away some jobs from the tennis world.
“As a player, I am a lot more calm and relaxed when I’m playing with Hawk-Eye, because I don’t have to worry about potentially having to stop the point mid-rally, right?
“I feel like there is too many times in big moments, big matches, where there is a close ball, and before you think about, you know, do I stop the point, if I stop the point, I’m going to lose it, or was it in, was it out, at least this way we just play until the out call.
“So it makes it, for the players at least, a lot easier to play and there is no discussions. There is no challenging. It’s just the way it is. The machine calls it in or out, and that’s ultimately, at least for me, I prefer playing under those, yeah, under the new system.”
Tennis fans slammed Hawkeye as a disgrace during Wimbledon for one particularly high-profile error during Sonay Kartal’s match.
Why electronic line calling has to be implemented
There are arguments both for and against the widespread implementation of electronic line calling in tennis, and on this occasion, we’ll advocate for the former.
In professional sports, the stakes, both financial and in terms of legacy, are at an all-time high.
Matches can come down to a singular point, whether that be the final one or a key moment that shifts the momentum. Either way, especially in tennis, there is never a quiet, unimportant point.
With that in mind, ensuring that nothing is left to chance, or human error, becomes crucial.
Naturally, technology was always bound to come with a few bugs, with teething pains clear to see in football’s implementation of VAR over the last few years.
However, if persisted with, there is hope that these issues will eventually be worked out to allow for a smoother and more accurate process.
There is too much at stake to leave such huge decisions up to humans when technology is there to be used. Realistically, for both the players and fans wishing to see a streamlined event, it is the way forward.
The main sadness is the loss of jobs and the steady departure from tradition.
