I'll bet Evert won't soon forget that match point in the '88 Wimbledon semi. The world minus Martina and a line judge thought Chris got a lousy and very delayed call on a glorious cross-court pass that hit the net and the line. Centre court made their views known . But Evert handled it well even knowing it was problably her last serious effort at a Wimbledon final
http://www.facebook.com/chrissieevert?v=app_2373072738#!/video/video.php?v=1291764778732
She says to this day that Martina influenced that call with her stare.
Ah this is one of those great legendary tales, 'oh how Chrissie got screwed'. Well, not quite.
Listen, I wanted Chris to win that match. But it was not as horrific as everyone makes it out to be. Even in the post match commentary, they talk about how "late" the call was. When in fact, when you watch the replay, the linesperson made the call immediately. Both with his hand and calling it. Yes, the ball was very close (and yeah, it might have been in). And while the umpire did have a slight delay, the crowd reaction, with all the noise, was the reason why he didn't say Game, Set, Match right away.
Of course Chris thought it was in, as did most of the Centre Court fans, since they were rooting for her. But as Chris said in the presser, it didn't matter what she thought, the linesperson called it out.
It's always unfortunate when a potentially controversial line call ends a really close match (no one would have been talking about this if it was a routine 6-2,6-2 match). We do now have replay to challenge close calls. Still, the players today aren't always right, and it's amazing how often linespeople get the calls right, even when balls are hit @100mph, with a tremendous amount of spin, and within millimeters of the line.
Oh, and Martina didn't influence the call one iota. The linesperson made the call immediately, without regard for what Martina was doing. Ironic, since Chris was the one who had her share of staring influences over linespeople throughout her career :wink:
