By Eric Goodris | @atntennis | Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Electronic on-line calls are now standard at most major and touring events. But this year’s Australian Open is leaving an important call to human referees.
And that has left some players confused and in disbelief over the following two weeks.
Typically in a tournament match, when a pass occurs (when a serve hits the net), a machine makes a noise letting everyone know. But this year in Melbourne, let’s be called by the referee themselves, using their judgement. This is even when players think a ball hit the net according to their eyes or ears.
both Alexander Zverev AND Tommy Paul complained about the reality after their quarterfinal meeting. Zverev won the match 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals where he will face off next. Novak Djokovic.
Pure relief for Sascha 😮💨#AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/mu6vS8lo1I
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2025
In the opening set tiebreak, a missed call by the umpire appeared to confuse both players as Zverev was awarded the point. Paul questioned the referee’s decision, saying, “If you don’t hear it or don’t see it, you won’t see any.”
After the game, Paul admitted that the missed call didn’t affect the overall outcome of the game, saying, “It is what it is. This didn’t lose me the game or anything. My number of unforced errors was very high.”
Even after the match, Zverev thought that the call should have been made.
“To be honest, the point that Tommy Paul complained about was too clear a pass. You know, I didn’t know what to do in that situation. I have to keep playing because if there’s no call and I stop playing, then it’s a loss of points for me.”
“You know, in that situation there’s nothing you can do but keep playing. But he was absolutely right, you know. It’s a clarion call. I don’t really blame the referee for that because it’s hard to hear, especially if you’re sitting higher up. But to me it is absolutely ridiculous. It’s a big surprise why we don’t have a simple Grand Slam release machine that we’ve had for the last 25 years in tennis.”
Earlier in the tournament, the Canadian doubles player Erin Routliffetogether with her partner Gabriela Dabrowski faced against Beatriz Haddad Maia AND Laura Sigemund in the third round. During a tiebreak, Haddad Maia hit a serve wide that Routliffe barely returned.
The Canadians thought the serve cut the net and were waiting for a replay. However, the chair judge, Julie Kjendlie, thought otherwise and awarded the point to the other team. Her excuse was that she herself did not hear a permission.
Frustrated, Routliffe shouted, “Oh my God, we have robots everywhere and we don’t have them for the web?” Routliffe and Dabrowski ended up winning the match, but Routliffe’s complaint caught the attention of Jessica Pegula who reproduced it on social networks.
We have cameras in every player area and everywhere we turn, but we don’t have a net machine? 💀 😂 https://t.co/hsnmFYQIaj
– Jessie Pegula (@JPegula) January 21, 2025
Routliffe herself later reposted it on her social media account and added: “I feel like I have a point, but why so dramatic?”
The Australian Open began using all electronic line calling (ELC) in 2021 as a way to reduce staffing during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the first Grand Slam tournament to do so. The ATP recently announced that the ELC will be used in all tournament-level events starting this year.
