Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova expressed her frustration on centre court following a malfunction of the electronic line-calling system during her fourth-round match against Sonay Kartal at Wimbledon. The incident occurred at a critical moment, with a clearly out ball from Kartal at 4-4 in the first set not being called out due to the system being accidentally deactivated for three points. In the absence of the previously scrapped video review method, chair umpire Nico Helwerth decided to replay the point, leaving Pavlyuchenkova dismayed.
“You took the game away from me,” she told Helwerth, asserting that he had wrongly favoured the local player. Pavlyuchenkova went on to win the match 7-6 (3), 6-4, advancing to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2016. In her post-match comments, she mentioned that Helwerth admitted to believing Kartal’s shot was out, implying he was hesitant to make such a decisive call.
Despite the frustration, Pavlyuchenkova managed to remain light-hearted about the situation, joking that if she had lost, she would have vowed never to return to Wimbledon. She noted the irony that umpires are quick to penalise players yet seem to miss significant calls like this one. Kartal, for her part, acknowledged the rarity of such incidents and supported the umpire’s handling of the situation.
The All England Club attributed the issue to “human error” on the server’s part, assuring that they maintain confidence in the ball-tracking system’s accuracy. Both players reportedly received apologies from the club. The tournament has transitioned to using electronic systems entirely, abandoning line judges, a decision that has raised concerns among some fans and players, including Pavlyuchenkova, who called for a review of the technology to ensure better accuracy in calls.
Taylor Fritz, another quarter-finalist, suggested that chair umpires should take more responsibility for making clear calls themselves. As the tournament unfolds, discussions around the effectiveness of electronic line calling versus traditional methods continue to resonate within the tennis community.