WTA Linz: For the first time "Hawk Eye Live" at an all-women tournament
The Upper Austria Ladies Linz stands for tradition. But tournament director Sandra Reichel was always a visionary too! This year the "Hawk-Eye Live" celebrates its world premiere in Linz.
by PM
last edit: Nov 06, 2020, 12:41 pm
This "Electronic Line-Calling", in which line judges are completely dispensed with, will take place for the first time in a pure WTA tournament. In August, it had already celebrated a highly acclaimed premiere at the Masters tournament in Cincinnati, which was held in New York, and then on all side courses at the US Open. “The 'Hawk-Eye Live' caused a lot of discussion in the tennis world, and I am proud that we can now also present this innovation in Linz, the 'City of Innovation'. I'm very excited, ”says Sandra Reichel. Austria's number one, Barbara Haas, has already had very good experiences with the “Hawk-Eye Live”: “I played with it at the US Open and I thought it was very cool. This will make everything easier! I hope it will be introduced in more tournaments. "
The "Hawk-Eye Live" system from the British company Hawk-Eye Innovations is a further development of the classic "Hawk-Eye" (falcon's eye) that has been used in Linz for several years, in which the players a certain number of "Challenges" have per set. This means that if you have tight decisions, you can register a computer-aided review with the referee, which is then shown on the video screen. This Hawk-Eye had already celebrated its Austrian premiere in Linz in 2010. The Linz tournament ambassador Barbara Schett once said about the “Hawk-Eye”: “It's great for the player that there is immediate clarity. There is no blaring and no discussion with the referee. "
The system, which is also used in other sports such as cricket and soccer, was developed in 2001 by Paul Hawkins, a British mathematician. Hawk-Eye has been the world leader in ball tracking technology for many years and was acquired by Sony in 2011. The system is also known from football (among other things as goal-line technology in the English Premier League) and from cricket.
The next generation of Hawk-Eye can even detect foot defects electronically
And now the next Hawk-Eye generation for tennis, the “Hawk-Eye Live”, will be on display at the 30th anniversary (November 7th to 15th) in Linz. Twelve high-speed cameras for ball tracking determine whether balls are “in” or “out”. Calls out are made automatically by a computer voice. Video evidence is also provided automatically for tight decisions, the so-called "close calls". In the case of serves, video evidence comes as soon as the balls are 50 millimeters "in" or out, and even up to 150 millimeters for the remaining strokes as before, there is no more.
The "Haw-Eye Live" even recognizes foot faults electronically: An additional six "Foot Fault" cameras check the base and center line: After viewing the recording, however, the decision is made by a human eye, the "Review Official", who is in a room The so-called "booth" sits under the roof of the hall. For foot errors, the "Review Official" looks at three live images from cameras on each side and then decides on foot errors if necessary, similar to the linesman previously. When he presses a button, the electronic "Foot Fault" call occurs. In addition to the calls, a light signal is installed on the umpire's chair for every decision made by Hawk Eye. If the ball is good then the light is green, if it is off, then red. So the chair referee is always in control if the sound fails.
The tournament director of the US Open, Stacey Allaster, summed up after using the “Hawk-Eye Live” in Flushing Meadows on all side courts: “It was an outstanding success! There is no discussion! We couldn't be happier with the way it worked! "