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Wimbledon chiefs retain confidence in line-calling tech despite Sunday's blunder

Wimbledon chiefs retain confidence in line-calling tech despite Sunday's blunder

Independent6 hours ago
Wimbledon bosses are 'deeply disappointed' by Sunday's electronic line calling failure but insist they are confident it will not happen again.
Officials blamed human error for the incident at a crucial stage of the fourth-round match between Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, with the system inadvertently turned off and not flagging that a shot from the British player was out.
Pavlyuchenkova, who would have moved 5-4 ahead had the call been made, was furious with umpire Nico Helwerth for ordering the point to be replayed, accusing him of stealing the game and the tournament of home bias.
Organisers apologised to both players, and chief executive Sally Bolton said: 'It was important for us to to explain as much as we could at that point in time what we believed had happened, and to apologise to the players for it happening in the first place.
'We're deeply disappointed that this has happened in the Championships. It was a human error. The ball-tracking technology is working effectively.'
The system has replaced line judges for the first time this year and such a high-profile malfunction is hugely embarrassing for the All England Club.
Bolton refused to go into the details of how the error had happened, or to explain what safeguards had been put in place during a briefing with reporters on Monday morning.
'I wasn't sat there, so I don't know what happened,' she said. 'It was clearly deactivated in error, because you wouldn't ordinarily deactivate a set of cameras mid-match intentionally.
'Once this happened, we did a full review of all of our systems and processes to check all of those kinds of things and to make sure that, both historically and moving forward, we have made the appropriate changes that we needed to make. So we're absolutely confident in the system.'
There was also criticism of Helwerth for not calling the ball out once it became clear the system had failed and instead ordering the point to be replayed, with Kartal going on to win the game, leaving her serving for the first set.
The German umpire, one of the sport's leading officials, was notably absent from the schedule on Monday, although Wimbledon organisers insisted it was simply his day off.
Pavlyuchenkova said in her post-match press conference: 'I just thought also the chair umpire could take initiative. That's why he's there sitting on the chair. He also saw it out, he told me after the match. He probably was scared to take such a big decision.'
Bolton cited a breakdown in communication between the review official and the umpire, with Helwerth unaware that the system had not been working previously during the game.
It is also a big week in a different type of court for the All England Club, with a judicial review into the decision to grant planning permission for its expansion into neighbouring Wimbledon Park taking place at the High Court on Tuesday and Wednesday.
There has been vehement local opposition to the scheme, which will see 39 new courts, including an 8,000-seat show court, built on the site of a former golf club.
Wimbledon chair Debbie Jevans will be at the High Court on Tuesday, and Bolton said: 'We remain really confident that we'll make the progress we need to make.'
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Playing loose with virtue wins no hearts, and Arsenal should know better
Playing loose with virtue wins no hearts, and Arsenal should know better

The Guardian

time13 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Playing loose with virtue wins no hearts, and Arsenal should know better

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The women are champions of Europe and will play all their home league games at the Emirates next season. There are always happier, simpler stories to tell, and Arsenal will never get tired of telling those. Naturally we should be wary of singling out Arsenal here. There is, or should be, no room for tribal triumphalism. Many other clubs would have acted similarly in similar circumstances. In a sense Arsenal's business-as-usual stance over the past three years is simply one of the defining characteristics of end-stage capitalism, one in which big companies ruthlessly pursue the bottom line while trumpeting their virtue. We are courageous in the pursuit of progress. We champion our community and each other. We do the right thing (even when no one is looking). This is the moral creed of Arsenal. Their fans are still waiting for them to deliver on it.

Jannik Sinner vs Grigor Dimitrov: Score and latest Wimbledon updates
Jannik Sinner vs Grigor Dimitrov: Score and latest Wimbledon updates

Telegraph

time16 minutes ago

  • Telegraph

Jannik Sinner vs Grigor Dimitrov: Score and latest Wimbledon updates

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British Wimbledon champ handed biggest fine of 2025 BEFORE tournament started as full list of punishments revealed
British Wimbledon champ handed biggest fine of 2025 BEFORE tournament started as full list of punishments revealed

Scottish Sun

time16 minutes ago

  • Scottish Sun

British Wimbledon champ handed biggest fine of 2025 BEFORE tournament started as full list of punishments revealed

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BRITISH tennis ace has been fined more than £9,000 for "verbally abusing staff" in an explosive training row at Wimbledon. Doubles sensation Henry Patten, 29, was handed the highest penalty of the Championships so far for allegedly kicking off when his practice session was cut short BEFORE the tournament began. 3 Henry Patten, right, won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2024 but he was handed a big fine before this year's Championships Credit: Getty The left-hander - who won last year's doubles title at SW19 - is appealing the sanction. He said he is 'disappointed' in the All England Club for disclosing the fines but not his denial. He said: 'I do not believe that there has been a full or proper investigation, nor has Wimbledon acted reasonably or fairly with due process. "I am disappointed that as the defending male's doubles champion that I am having to address this matter at this point rather than concentrating on playing tennis.' READ MORE ON WIMBLEDON SHEL DO Daughter of 'one of greatest sportsmen ever' stuns at Wimbledon cheering on Shelton The Australian Open winner, 29, who sailed through to the quarter final alongside Finland's Harri Heliovaara after a walkover on Monday, refused to comment on the nature of the incident. He is one of 12 players slapped with a total of £37,000 worth of fines in SW19 so far this year. French star Theo Arribage, 24, has been ordered to pay over £5,500 for 'unsportsmanlike conduct' in his second-round doubles clash. World No123 Adrian Mannarino, 37, landed himself a £4,400 penalty and Russian-born Elena Pridankina, 19, has been charged £3,600 for the same offence. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Belgium player Zizou Bergs, 26, and American Hailey Baptiste, 23, will both have to cough up £2,900 after being punished for 'audible obscenities', while French ace Varvara Gracheva, 24, was handed the same fine for 'abuse of racquets or equipment'. The biggest Wimbledon penalty on record was in 2019 when Bernard Tomic had his full prize money of £45,000 taken away for failing to meet the 'required professional standard' during his 58-minute first-round defeat by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Brits' opponent forced to retire from Wimbledon after suffering freak injury when he tried to catch the ball 3 Wimbledon 2025 LIVE - follow all the latest scores and updates from a thrilling fortnight at SW19 The dismal match - the shortest at SW19 in 15 years - was slammed as 'embarrassing'. And ex-doubles star Jeff Tarango was famously given an £11,000 fine after a fiery spat in 1995 which saw him accuse the umpire of being corrupt and tell the crowd to "shut up" when they jeered him. His wife then stormed a press conference to reveal she'd slapped the match official in the face. Following an investigation, the Grand Slam Committee fined the ace an additional £21,000 and banned him from two tournaments. The AELTC has been approached for comment.

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