Australia’s Nick Kyrgios is the latest high profile player who has called out Wimbledon for the use of AI powered line judges. In a podcast with Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg, Kyrgios said the organisers rushed the new technology into the tournament and called it a disaster.
“It has been an absolute s*** show”, the former Wimbledon finalist told Whistleblowers host Clattenburg.
AI line judges are automated systems that use cameras to make calls on whether balls are in or out, replacing line judges who traditionally made these decisions.
“Wimbledon is the tennis world’s Champions League – it’s the best tournament we have and pretty much every match we’ve had a malfunction. Maybe Wimbledon should just be one of the tournaments where it’s traditions never change. You have line umpires, and you have challenges,” Kyrgios said. “I want the sport to evolve – but this our biggest event and we’re still having these malfunctions.”
So far Emma Raducanu, Jack Drapper have expressed their displeasure on the use of the technology, questioning its accuracy and the disruption it causes in the matches.
During Sonay Kartal’s match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the AI system failed to register a ball that been played out. Organisers issued an apology but blamed human error, saying that someone had accidentally deactivated the system mid-game.
Clattenburg agreed with Kyrgios saying the organisers should have waited fully to test the new system before introducing it. “When VAR was introduced, it wasn’t just dropped into the Premier League. It was tested over a period of time. I think it was three or four years of it being used in mini tournaments and youth matches before its full rollout. I understand that Wimbledon are listening to its players – they want the technology in and the human taken element out. But I don’t understand why they didn’t have line umpires for this year, with the technology as a backup to check its accuracy,” he said.
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Kyrgios also pointed out how the entire technology spoiled the spectacle of the sport. “What about guys like me and John McEnroe?” Kyrgios asked. “Our best content ever has come from run-ins with line umpires. The ‘you cannot be serious moment’ for example, we’re still playing that 50 years later. I agree with Mark that they should have eased into it, I feel like Wimbledon just dropped it in and it’s been a disaster.”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
