Sonia Oxley
BBC Sport at Wimbledon
6 July 2025, 15:18 BST
Updated 38 minutes ago
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said a game was ‘stolen’ from her when Wimbledon’s electronic line-calling system failed during her fourth-round match against Britain’s Sonay Kartal.
There was no ‘out’ call when a Kartal backhand went long at 4-4 in the first set, with chair umpire Nico Helwerth halting play.
Russian Pavlyuchenkova had seen the ball was out – and a TV replay showed that was the case by some distance.
Addressing the crowd, Helwerth said: “We’re just going to check if the system was up and running, because there was no audio call.”
After a telephone call, he announced the electronic system “was unfortunately unable to track the last point” and ordered the point to be replayed.
Umpires can decide to make their own call if the system breaks down and are also entitled to replay the point.
Had the ball been called out, Pavlyuchenkova would have won the point and taken the lead.
Instead, it was replayed, Kartal won the point and went on to break for a 5-4 lead.
The fact Pavlyuchenkova went on to win the match meant the malfunction was not as costly as it could have been, although she still questioned why the umpire did not call it out.
“That’s why he’s there,” she said. “He also saw it out, he told me after the match.
“I thought he would do that, but he didn’t. Instead they just said replay.
“I don’t know if it’s something to do [with Kartal being] local.
“I think it’s also difficult for him. He probably was scared to take such a big decision.”
‘You took the game away from me’
Pavlyuchenkova was clearly frustrated when she returned to her chair at the end of the game.
She told the umpire: “I don’t know if it’s in or out. How do I know? How can you prove it?
“You took the game away from me … They stole the game from me. They stole it.”
A spokesperson for the All England Club said: “Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question.
“The chair umpire followed the established process.”
The automated line-calling system was introduced at Wimbledon for the first time this year.
Debbie Jevans – chair of the All England Club – said on Friday she was confident in its accuracy and the decision to bring it in.
Getty Images
Call fails on big stage after week of scrutiny
Electronic line-calling technology has been under scrutiny this week at Wimbledon, with a number of players saying they do not trust it.
Such an obvious failure on the biggest stage – on Centre Court, in a match featuring a British player – has ensured this topic will not go away.
Britain’s Emma Raducanu has been one of those to voice concerns, saying some of the calls had been “dodgy”, while former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic said the technology was a topic of discussion among players in the locker room.
Bencic said she was usually a fan of the technology but “it is not correct” at this tournament.
Line judges have been replaced by technology at many top-level tournaments, including the US Open and Australian Open.
Jevans previously said the technology was brought in because “the players wanted it” and some have backed the system, with former world number one Iga Swiatek saying she has had doubts but “has to trust” the calls.
‘Hopefully we don’t see mistakes like this again’
Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong said the error was something the tournament referee and organisers would have to “reflect on” and see “what could have been done better”.
“If there is uncertainty, that creates anxiety,” she said on BBC TV. “They [players] just need to feel reassured that the technology is working and the person who is pressing the buttons is doing the job they are meant to do.
“Hopefully we don’t see mistakes like this again.”
Former world number one Tracy Austin said the fault had been a “one-off”.
“An interesting, dramatic situation that I’m sure we will fix in the future but it was tough to watch for those few minutes,” the American added.
When there were line judges, players could challenge the calls by using an electronic review. There are no challenges under the current system and video replays are not used.
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