Would have John been McEnroe with electronic line-calling system?

[NicoMK]

Hi, I was watching the Rome Masters 1000 the other day and a ball was called in by the umpire while the Hawk-Eye announced it out. I guess it may have happened already on clay this year as, for now, the electronic line-calling system is not systematically used on this surface, namely not in Rome.

My intent is not to debate whether we should use the Hawk-Eye system everywhere on both Tours -- and my personal answer is : no, leave the human linesmen / umpires on court, tennis is not a sport for robots (yet?) and mistakes are part of the game. Period.

After the incident -- which wasn't even an incident since players or umpire didn't have access to the video, it made me think of John McEnroe, one of the best players to ever walk on a tennis court, famous for his talent, his records… and his tantrums.

Personally, I think that when John contested a mark, he was right most of the time.

So, would have John been McEnroe if the Hawk-Eye had existed in the 80s?

Do you think that the machine would have been in favor of John? Or do you think that John was wrong most of the time, thus overruled by the system?

What would have happened to Mac? Would he be the player who he is now, or not?

Discuss.

 

[Slicehand]

actually he was always right

 

[michael valek]

playing on clay has made me realise that in 30 years of hard court play, I was probably wrong most of the time, which is now obvious when you can see the mark.

 

[Deleted member 629564]

M-C 23 flashbacks

caught the line

 

[King_olaf_the_hairy]

I recall an occasion in the mid 1980s(?) when the Cyclops service line system was in place at Flushing Meadows. JMac disputed one of its electronic decisions by grumbling "I don't want to sound paranoid, but that thing knows who I am."

 

[Grafil Injection]

The other day when Murray was playing in Madrid I think, the umpire was pointing at a mark that was clearly about 4cm outside the line and saying the ball was in based on some debris on the line. I prefer the robot method.

 

[bigbadboaz]

Just imagine the tirades against an undefeatable machine.

 

[jimmy8]

This thread made me think the following: serena is John McEnroe on steroids.

 

[jimmy8]

Jelena Ostapenko constantly complains about line calls even though Hawkeye is calling the lines. McEnroe would do the same probably.

 

[Quaichang]

Hi, I was watching the Rome Masters 1000 the other day and a ball was called in by the umpire while the Hawk-Eye announced it out. I guess it may have happened already on clay this year as, for now, the electronic line-calling system is not systematically used on this surface, namely not in Rome.

My intent is not to debate whether we should use the Hawk-Eye system everywhere on both Tours -- and my personal answer is : no, leave the human linesmen / umpires on court, tennis is not a sport for robots (yet?) and mistakes are part of the game. Period.

After the incident -- which wasn't even an incident since players or umpire didn't have access to the video, it made me think of John McEnroe, one of the best players to ever walk on a tennis court, famous for his talent, his records… and his tantrums.

Personally, I think that when John contested a mark, he was right most of the time.

So, would have John been McEnroe if the Hawk-Eye had existed in the 80s?

Do you think that the machine would have been in favor of John? Or do you think that John was wrong most of the time, thus overruled by the system?

What would have happened to Mac? Would he be the player who he is now, or not?

Discuss.

No tantrums from Mac if machine calling was around. I think there was some gamesmanship from Mac because the tantrums disrupted the rhythm of his opponents.

 

[Mustard]

He'd have said that the machine was wrong, or whoever was operating it was wrong, and would argue about it for 5-10 minutes.