Truths, Lies and Tennis Statistics / Simon Mundie / 28 March 2009 / Leave a comment

Technology is now ingrained in tennis but a bizarre moment at Indian Wells demonstrated that Hawkeye does make mistakes. Simon Mundie discusses the perils and pluses of a major innovation.

Last week was another successful one for Britain's Andy Murray, as he reached the final of the first Masters series event of the year in Indian Wells, losing in virtually unplayable conditions against the world's best: Rafael Nadal. Murray notched another victory over Roger Federer en route to the title match, making it six wins out of eight against the grand Swiss master.

That victory over the formerly invincible Federer aside, the one moment during his weeklong campaign that stood out was a bizarre incident that occurred during his victory over the Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in the quarter-finals. Murray took the first set and looked like he could be about to achieve the crucial break in the second set, when he put up a high lob that clearly landed out in the ninth game. Ljubicic decided not to play what would have been a straightforward smash, yet Murray decided to challenge the call.

Unbelievably, the call went for the Scot, as Hawkeye succeeded in picking up the balls' second bounce which landed on the line, rather than the first that was clearly out. The umpire could do nothing to reverse the decision and Murray was handed the break. It was an unsettling moment, and one that the ATP will certainly hope doesn't happen again; the umpire's impotence in the face of the technology was telling. It also showed the extent to which Hawkeye has been embraced.

Hawkeye was first used at a tour event in Miami in 2006, having undergone rigorous testing over the previous few years. Later that same year, the US Open became the first Grand Slam event to use the system during play, allowing players to challenge line calls. Wimbledon first adopted its usage in 2007, where Teimuraz Gabashviliade earned himself the distinction of being the first player ever to make a Hawk-Eye challenge on Centre Court. In the final that year, Roger Federer, who was one of the only top players at that time to say he disagreed with the technology, was so riled by its use during his five-set defeat of Rafael Nadal that he complained to the chair umpire that the electronic system was "killing" him, before requesting unsuccessfully to have it turned off for the duration of the rest of the match.

It wasn't until March 2008 that the a uniform system regarding its usage was adopted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the Grand Slam committee. Up until that point, individual tournaments could decide upon things like the number of challenges a player could receive per set; thereafter the governing bodies announced a uniform system of rules: three challenges per set, plus an additional challenge if the set reaches a tie-break. If a player challenges a call successfully, he retains the same number of challenges; if he is incorrect he loses one of his challenges. If a player thinks a shot mid-rally was out, he can call a halt to play, and ask for the hawkeye system to make an adjudication, and if he is right then he wins the point.

As it stands, three of the four Grand Slam tournaments employ the Hawkeye technology, the only one to not embrace the system is the French Open, who have deemed it unnecessary because the ball leaves a mark in the clay which the umpire can inspect and duly make a decision on whether the ball was out. It is also used at most of the bigger tournaments on tour, although generally speaking only on the bigger show courts, at Wimbledon for example it's only in use on centre-court and court one.

The technology is now ingrained within tennis culture, yet it seems several players still haven't mastered the art of only challenging the calls that deserved it. During the Australian Open, the tournament officials released statistics showing that of 286 challenges made, only 89- or 31.12 percent- were successful. Hawkeye said the players were wrong 197 times. The man who openly detests the system, Roger Federer, ranked second on the list of the most unsuccessful male players... Who was the least successful? Our own Andy Murray, who could only manage a meagre two out of 17 right.

But what of the players who use it as a form of sportsmanship? Rafael Nadal clearly noted how the system riled Federer during the 2007 Wimbledon final, as during the epic title match 12 months later, he called on Hawkeye at key moments during the match when it was clear the call wasn't going to go in his favour, in all likelihood to try to knock Federer off his stride.

It's perfectly within the rules, and you can understand why players use the technology to disrupt the flow of the match. Sportsmanship is alive and well in tennis, and as far as Hawkeye is concerned, there's not much the authorities can do to stop it being mildly abused. And to be honest, when it contributes to the drama as it did in the Wimbledon final of 2007, tennis fans aren't necessarily going to be against that. It's just farcical incidents such as the one witnessed in Indian Wells that need to be ironed out to ensure that it doesn't start getting up more players' noses than a certain Roger Federer.