Wimbledon's electronic line calling (ELC) technology got off to a rough start, but the early criticism was nothing compared to the condemnation directed its way on Sunday. Russian tennis player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was "robbed" of a point that would've won her a game in the opening set of her fourth-round match against Britain's Sonay Kartal when the AI-driven system suffered an "embarrassing malfunction," failing to register that Kartal had hit a long shot out of bounds, Reuters reports. Camera replays showed Kartal's shot was clearly long, but there was no call of "out" from the ELC system, per the outlet.
There was much confusion as umpire Nico Helweth spoke with tournament officials over the phone, finally announcing that because the system failed to track the ball, the point had to be replayed. Kartal ultimately won the point, leading Pavlyuchenkova to tell the umpire, "Because she is local, they can say whatever ... They stole the game from me," per Reuters. Pavlyuchenkova would rally, however, going on to win the match 7-6(3), 6-4 and earn a spot in the quarter-finals.
Wimbledon officials later apologized, saying the ELC system had been turned off due to "human error," per CNN. "As a consequence we have fully reviewed our processes and made the appropriate changes." Though officials said the umpire had followed protocol, Pavlyuchenkova continued to question why the point had to be replayed when it clearly should've been awarded to her. "That's why we have a chair umpire," she said, joking that umpires might soon be eliminated by AI, too, "and then we're going to have everything automatic." Her closing sentiment: "We are losing a little bit of the charm of actually having human beings, ballboys." A rep for the All England Club countered, "We continue to have full confidence in the accuracy of the ball tracking technology."
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