Hawk-Eye set to replace officials at Next Gen ATP Finals in Italy

By Kamakshi Tandon Sep 19, 2017
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Hawk-Eye set to replace officials at Next Gen ATP Finals in Italy

ByKamakshi Tandon

Published Sep 19, 2017

The ATP has created a debate by announcing that it will try full electronic line-calling at the Next Gen Finals. The plan is to have no linespeople on the court.

Matches will be officiated with only a chair umpire, as Hawk-Eye will be making in-play calls. Foot faults will be called by an off-court review official using cameras at the center line and baselines. Players will not get to challenge under this system, but according to the ATP, tight calls will be shown on the big screen.

Hawk-Eye is an electronic line-calling system using 10 cameras to provide calculations of the path of the ball. The system only has an average 2.6 mm error rate.

But there appear to be concerns about the effect of the error rate if the system is used to make all calls, rather than just the ones that are challenged by a player.

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Officials did not specifically say whether or not the in-play line-calling equipment would be the same as regular tournaments, but they did state that they were confident in the system being used.

"This could be a landmark moment for officiating," said Gayle Bradshaw, ATP VP of Rules and Competition, in a statement. "Our athletes deserve the best and most accurate officiating we can offer.

"The technology is now in a place where we feel comfortable trialling this new system in a real tournament environment."

Others have questioned the impact of removing linespeople from the court.

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Officials will be "monitoring" and "assessing the merits" of the system, said Bradshaw.

The Next Gen Finals will have an eight-player field consisting of the top 21-and-under players on the ATP tour, with organizers also allowed to choose one wild card. No ranking points are offered.

Hawk-Eye set to replace officials at Next Gen ATP Finals in Italy

Hawk-Eye set to replace officials at Next Gen ATP Finals in Italy

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