I have, over the past week, been privileged to watch the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. I have seen players do what the normal tennis player would consider the impossible, with shots made backwards between their legs, to coming from way behind to take a match. I, like so many around the world, marvel at the fitness and the courage of some of these players.
However, there is one thing about this game that needs to be addressed and has not been, and/or certainly hasn't been changed, since its inception. It is also something that I doubt makes sense to the tennis world and/or even the "couch potato" world of watchers and players out there. I know it certainly doesn't make sense to me.
The aspect of the game that is not only irritating, but to be frank, is open to all kinds of abuse, is the ability of a match referee to overrule a line call when the line judges make or do not make a call. The match referee certainly has no better eyesight then those watching a particular line, especially one on the opposite side of the court from them, and with the ball moving away from them. This situation can, and should be changed to include the ability to watch television video coverage of a line hit or miss, and make the judgment call from that aspect, not from their own misconception of what actually happened.
Time after time in this tournament it was shown that the match referee got it wrong. Video coverage showed again and again mistakes and misjudgments made by match referees. This does nothing to enhance either the game of tennis, or the viewing of it.
Does the technology actually exist to make such judgments? It most certainly does. Look at the game of Rugby, where it is used to call a try or no try. Referees there have no hesitation to call for the replay tapes from the booth and to have that booth referee make the final decision, based on the evidence shown on camera. And, if enough evidence is not available, those same booth judges simply state that they cannot make that call, and it is up to the field referee to make it. Thankfully, most of the time that isn't what happens, as clear evidence is normally shown of a ball (or player) being placed in the proper manner for a try or not.
"Ahh, but the finesse of tennis is a factor here." I hear you say. My answer to that? Bull Hockey. Look at the game of Cricket, where millimeters and sound are factors used to determine a call on a play. Yet those referees have no hesitation to call for the video referee again to make that judgment. And why? Not because they don't have their own opinion, but rather that they have a love of the game and a respect for the athletes involved, and want the real truth of the play to be known and recognized.
So, I, as a mere fan of sport, am left with only these conclusions as to why this method of determining the truth on the tennis court is not used. The cameras are there, the tape is rolling, the slow motion works, so the only thing that prevents it from being used is either :
a) the match referees do not want to give up the supposed "power" they hold over the play of the match (bloated egos go a long way here). or
b) there is, heaven forbid, corruption rife in the game of tennis, and thus someone would be hit in the pocket if this was taken on board as the deciding factor, or
c) tennis referees honestly think that their eyesight is that good, from that distance, that they can always see what is right, no matter what video evidence might be shown to prove them wrong, and thus burst their little balloon of invincibility and perfection.
It is my hope that if you are a player or an administrator in the game of tennis, that you begin to lobby for, and carry through, the fight to institute a video referee for line calls that are disputed. Will these line calls take up the whole game because everyone will call them all the time? Don't be ridiculous. It didn't harm the game of rugby, cricket, or any other sport that uses this technology to make the game honest. It won't do so in the game of tennis either.
Tennis is a wonderful game to play and to watch. However, if something isn't done to make it more honest, it will become a dinosaur which few will continue to follow. Make tennis as honest as every other sport, and thus applaud the players who deserve that applause.
But, as always, these are, after all,
just my musings...
Mac
