News: 0178305742

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

Tennis Players Criticize AI Technology Used By Wimbledon

(Monday July 07, 2025 @11:30PM (BeauHD) from the human-oversight-required dept.)


Wimbledon's use of AI-powered electronic line-calling has sparked backlash from players who say the system [1]made several incorrect calls, affecting match outcomes and creating accessibility issues . "This is the first year the prestigious tennis tournament, which is still ongoing, [2]replaced human line judges , who determine if a ball is in or out, with an electronic line calling system (ELC)," notes TechCrunch. From the report:

> British tennis star Emma Raducanu called out the technology for missing a ball that her opponent hit out, but instead had to be played as if it were in. On a television replay, the ball indeed looked out, [3]the Telegraph reported . Jack Draper, the British No. 1, also said he felt some line calls were wrong, saying he did not think the AI technology was "100 percent accurate."

>

> Player Ben Shelton had to speed up his match after being told that the new AI line system was about to stop working because of the dimming sunlight. Elsewhere, [4]players said they couldn't hear the new automated speaker system, with one deaf player saying that without the human hand signals from the line judges, she was unable to tell when she won a point or not.

>

> The technology also met a blip at a key point during a match this weekend between British player Sonay Kartal and the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, where a ball went out, but the technology failed to make the call. The umpire had to step in to stop the rally and told the players to replay the point because the ELC failed to track the point. Wimbledon later apologized, saying it was a "human error," and that the technology was accidentally shut off during the match. It also [5]adjusted the technology so that, ideally, the mistake could not be repeated.

>

> Debbie Jevans, chair of the All England Club, the organization that hosts Wimbledon, hit back at Raducanu and Draper, saying, "When we did have linesmen, we were constantly asked why we didn't have electronic line calling because it's more accurate than the rest of the tour."



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/07/tennis-players-criticize-ai-technology-used-by-wimbledon/

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/1616223/wimbledon-abolishes-line-judges-in-favor-of-automated-technology-after-147-years

[3] https://sports.yahoo.com/article/tearful-emma-raducanu-hits-ai-230729160.html

[4] https://sports.yahoo.com/article/wimbledon-slaps-down-raducanu-draper-200601367.html

[5] https://sports.yahoo.com/article/wimbledon-overhauls-hawk-eye-avoid-144800132.html


AI for what? (Score:2)

by ByTor-2112 ( 313205 )

Why wouldn't you use a light curtain? "AI" for no reason.

AI? Really? (Score:2)

by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 )

Why not just throw lots of cameras at the problem and have humans review the recordings when a call is in question? Why introduce "AI" when it's obviously still so flaky and inadequate?

I can see the potential for automation to do the job well, but beta-testing this shit in tournaments is beyond stupid. Work out the bugs BEFORE using it for tournament play.

Re: (Score:1)

by Pierre Pants ( 6554598 )

They don't lack any money to pay to multiple people. This is just a scam and as always,there's lots of money involved, they get paid by the "AI" people. The "AI" people promote themselves (and bad publicity is still publicity), everyone wins, except the players and the viewers.

Re: (Score:1)

by zippthorne ( 748122 )

Why have automated calls at all? Sports are social events where people got to see other people who have trained to peak human performance compete against each other at popular games.

I don't want to see perfect play by optimized automatons, I want to see the earnest best effort on the part of the participants and argue about different plays with my friends later. The players will make mistakes, and so will the officials. That should just be part of the game.

Perhaps Wimbledon Should Let (Score:1)

by Skjellifetti2 ( 7600738 )

John McEnroe judge.

It should be very, very simple... (Score:2)

by Excelcia ( 906188 )

You have a line judge, you have the AI. They each make a call. If they match, the game goes on. If there is a discrepancy, or if asked by a player to review, then the footage is reviewed and an umpire makes a final call. If and when conditions are not suitable for the AI system (low light), then the game proceeds as normal.

This whole either or is just dumb. Wimbledon wants to save $$$, and is positing it as a stark either-or in order to justify their decision. All it demonstrates is a lack of professi

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do,
and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the
graduate school mountain but there in the sandbox at nursery school.
These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't
hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt someone.
Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good
for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint
and sing and dance and play and work some every day.
Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for
traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the
little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and
nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and
hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup -- they all
die. So do we.
And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you
learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in
there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and
politics and sane living.
Think of what a better world it would be if we all -- the whole world
-- had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with
our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other
nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own
messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into
the world it is best to hold hands and stick together.
-- Robert Fulghum, "All I ever really needed to know I learned
in kindergarten"