Players who want to stare at a line judge at the Australian Open after a close or controversial call will have a hard time doing so this year. There will be none.
In a Grand Slam scoop, there will be no online judges on any of the tournament courses in an effort to reduce the number of on-site staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only players, chair umpires and ball children will be on the field.
Tennis Australia announced the introduction of live electronic phone calls on Wednesday, saying motion-activated and pre-recorded voices will be used for the terms “off”, “foot foul” and “foul” in matches during the 8-21 February tournament .
Live electronic line calls are delivered through remote tracking cameras around the field, automatically sending the audio line calls in real time.
“The Australian Open will be the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce live electronic phone calls to all courts, including the major stadiums,” said Craig Tiley, director of the Australian Open.
The new system should lead to fewer challenges with player line calls and less time spent watching replays on the stadium’s large screens.
“The system automatically displays ‘close calls’ on the big screen at point-ending shots,” the tournament said in a separate emailed statement to The Associated Press. “This is standard 150mm (just under six inches) or less for a rally shot or 50mm (two inches) or less for a service.
“If a player asks to see a point-ending shot that is not automatically animated, then play can be stopped if the chair umpire considers the request reasonable, and the chair umpire must announce the replay. play should not continue until the recording is shown on the big screen. “
Last year at the US Open, Novak Djokovic, the No. 1, was disqualified in his fourth-round match for accidentally hitting a reserve ball at a linesman. During that tournament, electronic line calls were used on outdoor courts, but linesmen were still used in the main show fields.
Djokovic later called for tennis to make a permanent move to electronic calling, although he said this had nothing to do with his expulsion from New York.
“I have been criticized a lot for saying that we have to take into account the exclusion of the line referees,” said Djokovic last year. “That’s an opinion I’ve had for a number of years, it had nothing to do with my disqualification from the US Open.
“I’m not one who loves technology and can’t live without it. In some ways, technocratic society has gone too far in my opinion, but if we can be more efficient and precise in tennis, why not?”
This week, Melbourne Park uses the same system for six tune-up tournaments. They will be an extra touch next week at the Australian Open.
The pre-recorded voices are those of the Australian frontline workers in the country’s pandemic response, firefighters, beach rescue workers and other emergency services personnel.
“A ‘Behind the Line’ tribute introduces community heroes who will be the official line calling voice in every match,” said Tennis Australia.