Thiem: Time For Hawk-Eye At All Clay Events

By Richard PagliaroRoland Garros needs a major makeover in tennis technology.Dominic Thiem is one of several stars calling for the French Open to join the modern age and add Hawk-Eye or FoxTen line-calling technology.More: Thiem Routs RuudThe US Open champion beat Rome semifinalist Casper Ruud in the Roland Garros third round in a match that featured a couple of incorrect calls. It came a day after Denis Shapovalov was hooked on a call when the wrong mark was identified costing the Canadian a potential match point in his grueling five-set, five-hour loss to Roberto Carballes Baena.Roland Garros is the lone major of the four Grand Slams that does not use line-calling technology.The flurry of mistaken calls has Thiem strongly supporting implementing Hawk-Eye in Paris.“I would support 100% Hawk-Eye on clay, because at the match from Denis against Roberto yesterday there was a mistake, and then today in my match there was a mistake in my favor actually,” Thiem said. “Casper showed me the mark on his phone after the match in the first game of the second set. I mean, it's not the umpire's mistake, because sometimes you just cannot see the mark. It's too difficult, especially after the set break, because they clean the court, they brush the lines, so it's almost impossible to see where the mark starts.”

The two-time French Open finalist also supports the FoxTen line-calling technology, approved for use at clay-court events in Madrid, Rio and Charleston.While Hawk-Eye uses cameras surrounding the court feeding a computer system that calculates the ball’s predicted point of impact, FoxTen supplies high-speed images of the actual ball striking the court. FoxTen says it uses “more than 40 synchronized cameras with ten lasers which scan the court, each camera gathers 2,500 images per second (more than 100,000 images each second in total)" to make the call based on the real bounce.“I think it would be fair for everybody if Hawk-Eye would also exist on clay,” Thiem said. “So I think we should make it happen. And the system, the FoxTen system in Rio, it worked out very well. I played I think three matches with that one in Rio, and there were not any issues. So I hope that next year we will have it in every clay court tournament.”Ruud said it makes no sense for Roland Garros to use of Hawk-Eye for its television partners yet not permit players to see and use the system viewers at home all over the world are seeing every day.“I'm not sure if they showed it on the screen, but I think it's a bit strange that they have the Hawk-Eye available here but they just, they only show it for the TV and I don't understand why we can't use it, to be honest,” Ruud said. “So I guess there are some rules there that I don't know about, but I think definitely that clay should or that we should start using Hawk-Eye for the clay court tournaments as well because then we don't need to have all these arguments with umpires.Rome semifinalist Ruud, who has earned a Tour-best 17 clay-court wins this season, said seeing replays after matches often support players’ arguments and further fuels their frustrations.“And I think, quite frankly, we players are right on these mark discussions,” Ruud said. “We saw yesterday with Shapovalov this huge point he had in the fifth set. And today for me it wasn't, it wasn't that crucial of a point but it was a deuce in the first game of the second and any point is important but I can't imagine how frustrating must have been for Shapovalov yesterday and I hope that in the future we will start to use this type of technology for the clay court tournaments as well.”

These are the matches we came for. 🙌@Robertocarba93 is into the third round of a major for the first time, and wins a five-setter for the first time.
He takes down Shapo after five hours: 7-5, (5)6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/aSiOlLu7E8
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) October 1, 2020

Tradition is a beautiful thing, but it can also be a frustrating impediment to progress.The time-honored tradition of inspecting a ball mark happens every day on clay courts around the world and at Roland Garros.The issue is sometimes a player and chair umpire can’t even agree on which ball mark is correct, a linesperson can be unsighted and not see the actual mark or there can be dispute if the mark near a line was left by brush marks after the court was swept or ball fibers.Hawk-Eye is sharper than the human eye and could also help solve the issue when a player and chair umpire disagree about the actual ball mark.“There’s a lot of debatable calls in every match,” Shapovalov said.“I just think it’s unfair that players don’t have a chance to challenge the refs call on clay as we would on other surfaces.”The Grand Slams are crown jewels and Roland Garros is the only major that does not use line-calling technology, which is a pity because it could help create clarity.Roland Garros has added the retractable roof over Court Philippe Chatrier and lights on courts around the ground. Adding line-calling technology will modernize the tournament and complement Roland Garros’ renovation.Photo credit: Roland Garros Facebook]]>