Tried and tested for a long time, now it’s final! The linesman in Tennis has had enough. Gone are the annoying discussions – especially on clay – whether a ball with the outer atoms has still touched the line or not.
The men’s tennis organization ATP decided to only rely on electronic line monitoring (ELC) from 2025. ATP boss and ex-professional Andrea Gaudenzi (49): “This is a milestone for our sport. While tradition is at the core of tennis, we have a responsibility to embrace innovation and new technology.”
At the moment, like at the Masters in Madrid, line judges are still in action, especially on clay and at smaller tournaments like last week in Munich. That will be history in two years. When the women’s tennis organization WTA follows suit is only a matter of time. Many Masters and the Grand Slams are held alongside the men. Two systems would be nonsensical.
The next-gen finals in Milan in 2017 were the first to be tested without a linesman. The electronic system established itself especially during Corona and the contact and distance rules at the time.
Shock confession in the “double pass” Police protection for referee Stegemann!
Another plus: The ELC provides comprehensive player and ball tracking. This leads to an unprecedented amount of data for analysis and development of statistics.
Smaller ATP tournaments in particular are not happy about the decision. Depending on the number of seats, the costs for linesmen are cheaper than purchasing the ELC system, which only pays off years later.
2023-04-30 13:57:44
#Tennis #Finally #Linesmen #abolished #Sports
