Instant replay was an inevitable reality in tennis. What tennis fan among us does not remember the "You cannot be Serious" tirade of John McEnroe, or the sight of complaining Jimmy Connors putting his hands apart while yelling, illustrating how far a linesman missed a call by. Regardless of whether it was one of these gentlemen, or just the high stakes that now go along with the sport of tennis and the large amount of prize money involved, the game changed, and many think for the better, March 22, 2006. This was the date that instant replay was first put into use, at the NASDAQ 100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida.
So what is this system that has been put in place? It is called the Hawk-Eye technology. Just for note, this should not be confused with the old Cyclops technology that was used for sometime at Wimbledon to detect whether a serve was in or not. This is much more effective and definitely more advanced than that older system. This instant replay system is made up of an 8-camera setup, which covers all parts of the court, and can detect line calls anywhere in play.
How does it work from the player's perspective? Well if they feel that a point ending call has been made, and it is in error, they may use a challenge, in hopes of having it overturned. They can as well, protest a call that occurs during a rally as well, but they would have to stop play, which could force them to lose a point if they are not correct in their protest. The player is allowed two challenges per set, and a third if a tiebreaker occurs in that set. However, if a player takes a challenge, and the call is upheld, they will lose one of their challenges for that set. Also, the chair umpire can also initiate a review if he feels that a lines person was not in the correct position to make a correct call on a point. What do the fans take out of it? Well, not only the satisfaction of knowing a call is being made correctly, but also because of the setup of this system, which displays the replays up on the stadium big screens, they see the result at the same time the player is.
Instant replay also has some other factors working in its favor that make it a hit with both players and fans alike. Unlike instant replay in other sports like football, where these interludes seem to go on endlessly, an instant replay review in tennis has been taking on average ten seconds. They are getting the calls right, and not taking all day to do it. What a concept! The other thing it has done is taken some of the delays caused in matches by tirades over supposed missed calls. Some people will say this is a bad thing because it takes some of the color and fun out of the game, but most are very happy with this change.
Are there any complaints having to do with this system? Only one that seems to be brought up with any regularity, and that is the cost of the system. Take the cost of that first setup at the NASDAQ 100. The cost of the system to install there are the Key Biscayne Center Court was 100,000 dollars. With that cost breakdown, you see that most places will only have it on one court, namely their featured court, which leaves all the other courts to human error. It makes it seem like a tool only for the best in the game. Places like the US Open will have it on two of their main courts, but this is an exception to the rule. Hopefully, as the years go on and technology gets a bit cheaper, more tournaments can fully deploy the system.
In the end, Tennis officials the world over felt this was a system whose time has come. With the amount of prize money, and the prestige of world ranking on the line, it is imperative that officials and players alike have every tool possible to make sure that the proper winners are declared. A final fact to digest as you consider this topic. Statistics have shown that just over 40 percent of challenged calls have been overturned. Now, that does not mean that all these calls turned the match around, but if you were a player, would you not be glad that this system was there to help you if needed?