Hawk-Eye software, developed in Britain, malfunctioned during a Wimbledon match.

      Wimbledon’s newly implemented automated line-calling system encountered a glitch during a tennis match on Sunday, shortly after it replaced human line judges for the first time in the tournament's history.

      The system, known as Hawk-Eye, utilizes a series of cameras with computer vision technology to monitor tennis balls in real-time. If a ball is determined to be out, a pre-recorded voice announces, “Out.” If the ball is in, there is no announcement and the game continues without interruption.

      However, during a women’s singles match on Centre Court between British player Sonay Kartal and Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the software temporarily failed. When the score was 4-4 in the first set and Pavlyuchenkova reached game point, Kartal hit a shot that was clearly out, yet Hawk-Eye did not make a sound. With the system silent, the umpire decided to replay the point, even though video replays confirmed the mistake.

      Pavlyuchenkova expressed her frustration, telling the umpire, “You stole the game from me,” as reported by Reuters. Although she lost the game, she managed to turn things around and ultimately won the match.

      After the incident, Wimbledon CEO Sally Bolton attributed the expensive malfunction of Hawk-Eye to human error.

      Bolton stated on Monday morning, as reported by Ubitennis, “The electronic line calling system was functioning optimally. The problem was human error related to the tracking system being inadvertently turned off, and the chair umpire not being informed that it had been deactivated.”

      A Familiar Presence in Sports

      Initially developed in the UK by computer scientist Paul Hawkins and later purchased by Sony in 2011, Hawk-Eye has become a standard technology in various sports, including tennis, football, cricket, and volleyball.

      Nonetheless, the technology has faced criticism as well. In February 2024, concerns over Hawk-Eye’s accuracy arose during a call in an England-India cricket match, leading to questions about the precision of its ball tracking. In 2022, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) suspended Hawk-Eye after it incorrectly disallowed a valid point for Galway in the All-Ireland Football semi-final, raising doubts about the system's reliability.

      Despite the criticisms, many agree that the automated system is generally more precise than human line umpires, who were shown to make mistakes in 27% of situations where Hawk-Eye was used for review, resulting in an umpire error approximately every 17.4 games.

      Last week, Wimbledon tournament director Jamie Baker defended the system after British player Jack Draper challenged its accuracy. “The idea of live line calling is now standard across the tour — it’s mandatory across the ATP tour,” Baker noted. “Two of the other grand slams, the US Open and Australian Open, have used it for four or five years.”

      We have reached out to Hawk-Eye for a comment on this incident and will update this article once we hear back.