Courier’s senior tour takes on the challenging system
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BY JAMES BECK
Wow! What a serve! Straight down the middle. And on the first point of a tiebreaker. But that’s typical of “Tall John” Isner.
Even against the great Novak Djokovic. No challenge by Novak. The world’s No. 1 just walks to the ad-side, ready to play the next point. But as a replay later indicated, the serve just missed the outside of the center line.
That could have been a crucial no-call that could have decided their match at Indian Wells, Calif. But Djokovic closed out the match without any outside influence by winning the second-set tiebreaker, 7-5.
EXCLUSIVE ELECTRONIC LINE-CALLING COULD MAKE DIFFERENCE
If that had been a match played on InsideOut Sports and Entertainment’s 2015 PowerShares Series tennis circuit, Djokovic might have ended the match a point earlier. InsideOut Sports and Entermainment announced last week that electronic line-calling will be used exclusively in place of line crews throughout its 12-city 2015 tour. The North American tour for players 30-and-over will use a chair umpire, but all line-calling responsibilities will belong to Hawk-Eye, with unlimited challenges by players.
The first event on the PowerShares Series is scheduled for Tuesday, March 24 in Salt Lake City, Utah, with Andre Agassi and tour founder Jim Courier on the agenda. PowerShares Series tournaments are one-night events that feature two one-set semifinal matches, followed by a one-set championship match.
EVEN JOHN McENROE LIKES EXCLUSIVE ELECTRONIC SYSTEM
“I never thought this day would come when I would play tournament tennis without linesmen,” John McEnroe said. “I think this is a great move for the sport and I applaud InsideOut Sports and Entertainment and the PowerShares Series for making this bold decision. I think this can be a ground-breaking game-changer for the sport.” Wow again!
I couldn’t figure out why the analysts on the Tennis Channel were discussing pro tennis’ line-calling rules so much until the e-mail from PowerShares promoter Randy Walker arrived announcing the exclusive electronic line-calling news. Finally, someone is bold enough to try to guide the ATP and WTA tours in a better direction. And that’s no doubt Jim Courier, who plays a major role with InsideOut Sports and Entertainment as the founder of the 11-year-old Los Angeles-based company.
CURRENT SYSTEM NOT ALWAYS FAIR
The current challenging system used by the pro tours is completely unfair, placing the responsibility of challenging on the players. The players have more things to think about on the court than, “Should I raise my hand or not?” Or worrying about running out of the three incorrect challenges they have access to in a non-tiebreaker set.
With an all-electronic system such as Jim Courier’s tour is instituting, the players could play tennis and not have the added burden of making decisions about whether to challenge or not.
The current system even creates a bit of controversy at times, such as at one point in Djokovic’s three-set win over Roger Federer in Sunday’s final at Indian Wells when it was unclear to the players as to whose challenge was being used. The incident seemed to fluster Djokovic for a few points in a second-set tiebreaker that Djokovic lost primarily because of back-to-back doublefaults after leading 5-3.
SOME EXPERTS WANT PLAYERS TO HAVE RESPONSIBILITY
Earlier in the week, one of the analysts on the Tennis Channel broadcast from Indian Wells defended the current system by insisting that the players should have “some responsibility.” They do: Winning the match.
Other major sports leagues place responsibility on people involved. Yes, coaches, managers, etc. But not the players.
Of course, if the players need to take responsibility, pro tennis always could resort to the way the problem is handled by juniors and league tennis players. They make the calls themselves, usually with less disagreement than we see on television under the current system.
That’s the system used even in the high-echelon of junior tennis such as the Family Circle Cup’s Dunlop Junior Championship. Works well. The players make the calls, but the chair umpire can get involved at any time. This is not exactly just junior tennis. The winner gets a wild card in the Family Circle Cup’s qualifying tournament in early April, and therefore could even be playing in the Family Circle Cup’s main draw. Of course, the surface is clay and marks usually can be found.
PLAYERS ON OUTSIDE COURTS HAVE DISADVANTAGE
That brings us back to electronic line-calling. Under the current system, most of the outside courts, even in major events, are not equipped to handle Hawk-Eye. So, that alone makes today’s current rules unfair. When the lesser players from the outside courts happen to get lucky and get an assignment on one of the stadium courts, they don’t always seem to know how to handle the challenging system.
Of course, if the ruling bodies of the men’s and women’s pro tours decided to go exclusively to electronic line-calling, the outside-court situation could be fixed without too much trouble. The cost of line crews would go away. The line crews might be unhappy, but the players would be much happier. And probably the crowd, too, along with TV viewers.
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James Beck is the long-time tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspaper. He can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com
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