There have been several talking points throughout the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.
The roof closures and the suspension of matches have caused plenty of controversy during the grass court Grand Slam.
But this year’s edition of Wimbledon marked the first time that line judges were replaced in favour of electronic line calling.
Now Dan Evans, who lost to Novak Djokovic in round two, has had his say on the removal of line judges from Wimbledon.
Dan Evans thinks electronic line calling is good for tennis
For the first time in Wimbledon’s long history, electronic line calling has been introduced.
It has largely been successful, but there was one moment during Sonay Kartal’s last 16 match with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
At 4-4 in the first set Kartal sent a backhand long that was not picked up by the electronic line calling technology system.
Rather than award the point to the Russian, the chair umpire told players to replay the point, which Kartal won. Therefore, she broke her opponent’s serve and ultimately won the set.
The likes of Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu criticised the new system, but their fellow Briton Dan Evans is in favour of the new technology.
“I think one bad call in Sonny Kartal’s match. Obviously technology has not done its job there but the umpire has eyes. He can easily say no that’s out. That’s what I think he is there for,” Evans told talkSPORT.
“You don’t have to replay that point on such a big point. I think that is where he made the technology look awful. He could have bluffed that and said that ball was out.
“You didn’t need to go into the whole technology thing with that. I have no issues with the technology. I think both players know what it is. Both players know it can be a millimetre or whatever it is and I’m fine with that. I think it is good for our game.”
Some players have spoken out against Wimbledon’s new electronic line calling system
Some players spoke out against the electronic line call system, expressing their dissatisfaction.
During Raducanu’s 6-7, 4-6 defeat to Aryna Sabalenka, she was not happy when a shot from the Belarusian was called in midway through the first set.
“That call was for sure out,” she said. “It’s kind of disappointing that the calls can be so wrong, but for the most part they’ve been OK. I’ve had a few in my other matches, too, that have been very wrong. Hopefully they can fix that.”
She said: “I don’t think it’s 100% accurate, in all honesty. A couple of the ones today it showed a mark on the court. There’s no way the chalk would have showed.”
Following his second-round loss to Marin Cilic on Thursday, Draper added: “I don’t think it’s 100% accurate, in all honesty. A couple of the ones today it showed a mark on the court. There’s no way the chalk would have showed.”
