Novak Djokovic in French Open disagreement over controversial decision | Tennis | Sport

Novak Djokovic seems at odds with French Open organisers over their choice to forego Hawk-Eye know-how in favour of human line judges. The 24-time Grand Slam champion, who’s one main win away from breaking the all-time document he shares with Margaret Courtroom, says he is “a proponent of technology” and thinks its introduction has been a internet optimistic for tennis.

The French Open stays the one Grand Slam to withstand adopting Hawk-Eye’s digital line-calling system, which makes use of high-speed cameras to trace ball trajectories with pinpoint precision. As an alternative, Roland Garros depends on umpires and line judges, a practice organisers defend as a part of the event’s distinctive allure. Nevertheless, Djokovic’s newest feedback suggests he believes this to be an outdated strategy, one that would doubtlessly undermines the integrity of high-stakes matches.

“You don’t want to give everything away to the technology, right? But if I have to choose between the two, I’m more of a proponent of technology,” the 38-year-old advised reporters forward of his first spherical conflict in opposition to Michael McDonald. “It’s just more accurate, saves time, and… [means] less people on the court.”

This controversy follows uproar involving Alexander Zverev, who begged a match umpire to get off his chair to evaluate a mark that the automated system had referred to as in throughout his Madrid Open conflict with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina final month. The German star even whipped out his telephone and took a photograph to point out the umpire when he refused to test it.

“Look at this mark. Please just come down, look at it,” Zverev pleaded. “Don’t overrule it, please. Just come down, please. Just for me.”

The Australian Open removed all line judges in favour of an automatic system again in 2021, whereas on the newest version of the US Open, line judges had been solely positioned on the 2 largest courts. Even Wimbledon – which prides itself on custom and historical past – is ditching line judges in favour of a Hawk-Eye system this yr.

The French Open, nonetheless, stays a holdout, and is not more likely to shift its stance anytime quickly. “Unless the players are unanimous and come to us and say, ‘We won’t play if there isn’t a machine’… then I think we’ve got a great future ahead of us to maintain this style of refereeing,” French federation president Gilles Moretton mentioned, whereas boasting of the standard of his nation’s officers.

Djokovic is not the one prime participant in favour of know-how being utilized in Paris. 2023 US Open winner Coco Gauff urged organisers to undertake an automatic system sooner moderately than later, claiming that know-how progress is inevitable. “I mean, I don’t know if it’s like the ‘Gen Z’ in me, but I think if we have the technology, we should use it,” the American mentioned.

Three-time main champion Aryna Sabalenka agreed, noting: “Linespeople mess up sometimes. Automatic line-calling is going to mess up probably less.”

That mentioned, there are some who do not appear to thoughts the shortage of tech. Stefanos Tsitsipas instructed clay surfaces do not essentially want automated techniques since every bounce of the ball leaves a mark on the courtroom that may be reviewed if mandatory.

“That’s what makes clay special, in a way – that you can always review the shots,” he mentioned. “Obviously, you can’t deny that electronic line-calling is the future, and everything is moving towards AI and artificial intelligence. But me, personally, I wouldn’t mind playing on clay with maybe the judgment of a human instead of a robot.”