Why Taylor Fritz’s Electronic Line Calling Nightmare Shows the Need for Common Sense in Tennis
From 2025, all ATP Tour events will use Electronic Line Calling (ELC), eliminating the chance of human error in line calling.
Based on data from Tuesday night at the Cincinnati Open, a Masters 1000 tournament one level below a Grand Slam, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
In a first-round match between Americans Taylor Fritz and Brandon Nakashima, a glitch in the ELC system showed that even without linesmen and without decisions being challenged, there is still room for things to go wrong and a player to have to go back to the referee to explain his case.
“I always have to stand up for myself,” Coco Gauff said a few weeks ago at the Olympics as she sat on the receiving end of what she felt was a referee’s decision. Fritz was left with similar feelings Tuesday, not believing that he and referee Greg Allensworth, even with ELC, should still be doing this dance.
In what ultimately turned out to be a surprise 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4) victory for Nakashima over world number 12 Fritz, Nakashima was serving at 2-3, 30-30 in the second set.
He hit a forehand that looked comfortable and could have put him 30-40 behind and a break point.
There was no “out” call from the ELC.
Without a call, the players continued, although Fritz looked up as he returned the ball, as if to suggest he knew he was out. He hit a forehand and the rally continued for a few more strokes before a “stop, stop, stop” was heard. This was not referee Allensworth, but rather a recording activated by a review official who acknowledged the error. Since this happened mid-rally, Allensworth called a let.
Allensworth explained to Fritz that it was up to him to stop the point if he thought the ball was out and that since he didn’t think it was out it had to be a let. Fritz was understandably furious and said that players are not expected to mediate themselves when ELC is used.
“Okay, no wait, no no no no. Don’t tell me to stop at the point where we have electronic calling,” Fritz said.
He then tweeted: “Imagine if you told me to stop calling when we literally have Hawkeye electronic line calls.”
Imagine if you told me to stop when we were literally having Hawkeye electronic line conversations 😂
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) August 14, 2024
Fritz also asked why Allensworth hadn’t intervened when the ball was out of bounds, given how clear the call was. “I thought it was out of bounds, too,” the referee said. “But I can’t do that (ignore the technology).”
He then announced to the crowd: “Due to a technical error, we will replay the point – 30-30.” There were boos from the spectators, and a flash of how far away the ball was appeared on the television images.
“It’s actually ridiculous,” Fritz said. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” he added.
Both former and current players agreed.
“This is allergic to common sense,” tweeted former world number 1 Andy Roddick.
Daniil Medvedev said on Instagram: “Ridiculous decision… ball out, point over, point to Fritz. How could this not be the outcome?”
The ATP Rulebook states: “If the live ELC system cannot make a call, the call shall be made by the chair umpire. If the chair umpire cannot determine whether the ball was in or out, the point shall be replayed. This protocol applies only to point-ending shots or in the event that a player stops play.
“In the event that there is no call and the player stops play, the referee will order the stroke to be shown on the video screen for confirmation.”
Fritz’s case fell on deaf ears (Tennis TV)
Allensworth was right when he stated that a LET must be played according to the rules. However, the rules are at odds with what players and fans consider common sense. This leaves ELC caught in the web of counterintuitiveness that applies to other elements of tennis refereeing.
At the French Open, umpires still get up from their chairs to look at the scores on close calls instead of using Hawk-Eye. In this year’s French Open men’s final, Alexander Zverev was on the wrong end of an umpire overrule against Carlos Alcaraz at a crucial moment in the fifth set.
Video replays showed that a linesman’s original decision should have stood.
Coco Gauff was also upset about the refereeing overrulings at the French Open and the Olympic Games, both played at Roland Garros in Paris. On those occasions, she lost the point despite making contact with her strokes (and missing them), but she was told that the “out” calls had not affected her swing. She vehemently denied this on both occasions.
With ELC, both situations would have been avoided, but as became clear on Tuesday evening, there is still room for controversy under current guidelines if the technology does not work as intended.
(Top photo: Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
