This year鈥檚 Wimbledon tournament, which started Monday, looks a bit different. Line judges 鈥� the folks who determine whether a ball is in or out of bounds 鈥� are not part of the game.
鈥淚鈥檓 a bit sad because I鈥檓 looking at my TV and it looks like somebody鈥檚 done a bad Photoshop on the court,鈥� said , a line judge for two decades. 鈥淭here are no line judges at the back.鈥�
When the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, which runs Wimbledon, announced the tournament was doing away with line judges starting this year, tennis purists decried the decision.
Line judges are assigned to a specific line to watch and make calls on. They are stoic and nonreactive, communicating their calls to the chair umpire through hand signals. They also watch players鈥� feet and call foot faults during serves when necessary.
鈥淚 did work with [John] McEnroe once and he did stick his hands on his hip and stare me down,鈥� Eyre said. 鈥淚 had to just stand with my hands behind my back, and as you say, look very calm, whilst inside being absolutely terrified.鈥�
Now, in the absence of judges like Eyre, the tournament will use an electronic calling system that has been implemented in other tournaments.
鈥溾�奍鈥檓 surprised that Wimbledon didn鈥檛 hold out longer than Roland Garros did, the French Open, because Wimbledon has always respected its tradition so much,鈥� Eyre said, 鈥渁nd line judges are such an iconic part of what you look at on the television.鈥�
With that change, more than are out of work. Eyre calls it a 鈥榮ad day鈥� in tennis.
鈥淚鈥� think sports are about human beings. I think they鈥檙e about athletes who are working as hard as they can and working against their own demons and all the different things that might happen around them,鈥� Eyre said. 鈥淲hen you try and just take out anything that makes that human, I think you lose a really important part of the game.鈥�
And aside from the human aspect, Eyre said that Wimbledon viewers would miss out on some fantastic moments between players and judges. Sometimes players collide with judges, question their calls, or have other interactions on the court.
鈥淭hose are such brilliant iconic memories, and they鈥檙e lost for the future because we must make it more automated,鈥� Eyre said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not always the best thing, is it?鈥�
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