A look at the use of Hawk Eye in Tennis

Change and development in any field is inevitable and necessary. Today, technical knowledge comprehended with scientific awareness has brought about a huge revolution. There has not been a single field which has remained untouched by technology. From a safety pin to a skyscraper, everything is so efficient now. This has been due to various technological advancements which take place every minute in some corner of the world. Let’s look into its application in the field of sports.

Every sport played at any level (international, national etc.) requires the decisions to be accurate in every possible way. Here comes the role of technology (read video technology), which ensures that decisions are precise and leave no raised eyebrows. But in some sports like football, where the decision making is completely in the hands of on-field referees, sometimes unintentional wrong decision are given, which brings out a rage of anger among fans and players.

Every Human is bound to make some mistakes, and so are umpires/referees. But in current times, when corruption has creeped in to every terrain of the world, umpires who unintentionally give out ‘a not so correct’ decision are labeled biased and corrupt by both viewers and players. So I think the need of the hour is some technological method which can help an umpire to be more accurate and confident about his decision, which can correct him if he is wrong. Here are some of the major innovations which took place in the past 2-3 decades in tennis, and have completely changed the course of the game.

Tennis was devoid of any form of concrete technology till the end of 20^th century. Actually, I think it was the sudden increase in the number of followers, which made the scientists and technologists to put on their thinking caps and bring about major improvements, which help in the decision making process. And so Hawk Eye made its way to Tennis in 2002.

Hawk – Eye

Hawk-Eye was one of the initial major breakthroughs in 21^st Century within the sports sector. The Hawk Eye system was invented by a young computer expert Dr. Paul Hawkins. Hawk – Eye’s first television coverage was way back in 2002, at Davis Cup. But it made its official debut at NASDAQ – 100 Open, and made its first Grand Slam appearance in 2006 at US Open.

What is Hawk-Eye?

Hawk-Eye uses approximately ten computer-linked television cameras which are situated at various tennis arenas around the court. All these cameras capture High Definition video, and are manually made to track the path of the ball throughout the court. These ten separate views from different angles are then combined together automatically by the computer to come up with an accurate 3D representation of the possible path of the ball. The system is able to display the outcome of any given bounce within 5 seconds of the ball landing, with the result displayed to the players, umpire, fans and via television simultaneously.

The current rules under which Hawk-Eye is used:

1) Players now have access to 3 incorrect challenges per set to review umpire decisions on line calls.

2) During a tie break, a player receives an additional incorrect challenge.

Results and Outcomes so far:

Although prior to the use of Hawkeye, players have continued maintaining that they instinctively know when a ball is in or out, forcing various Tennis Federations across the world to take up this technology, the concluding results have been ambiguous . Across any given week of tennis, up to 200 calls (per court) may be challenged, with on average only 30% of calls being overturned.

Gilbert Ysern, director of the French Open refused to take up the Hawk Eye technology and maintained ,“There are ball marks on clay, and our chair umpires are used to checking the marks when needed, and, so why would we need Hawk-Eye?” This has made both, players and spectators furious. There have also been some controversial disputes regarding it, where according to players, umpires checked with the wrong mark on the court giving out a wrong decision. Some players have also blamed the umpires for their loss, due to the very same reason.

Statistics say that, umpires have been correct more than 70% of the time. But looking at the craze and competition of this sport on International level and even on the lower level, I think achieving 100% accuracy should be the target by any means of technology. So, technologies like Hawk – Eye are must for the betterment of the game.

Coming up soon is similar discussion regarding the same topic on Cricket.