Wimbledon Overhauls AI Ball Tracking System After Critical Error
Wimbledon has made significant changes to its AI ball tracking system during the ongoing tournament, following a series of errors that have raised concerns about the reliability of the technology. The All-England Club has taken immediate action to address the issues, ensuring that such mistakes do not occur again in the future.
The incident occurred during a crucial fourth-round match between Britain’s Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. A human error led to the accidental deactivation of the ball-tracking cameras, which disrupted the game and left officials deeply disappointed. The error highlighted the need for a more robust system to prevent similar occurrences.
As a result of the incident, the club has modified the Hawk-Eye software to eliminate the possibility of operators accidentally switching off the cameras. This change was implemented after an incident where cameras monitoring one side of the court were turned off with a single click without the operator realizing. The All England Club confirmed that they had conducted a thorough review of their systems and processes, and have now removed the ability for Hawk-Eye operators to manually deactivate the ball tracking.
This is the first year that Wimbledon has used electronic line-calling technology instead of traditional line judges, breaking a 147-year tradition. The transition to this new system has not been without challenges, as it has already faced criticism from players like Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper. However, an audit by Wimbledon found no additional errors beyond the incident on Sunday.
While the source of the issue was identified as human error, the club has made changes to ensure that such mistakes cannot be repeated. An All England Club spokesman stated, “This error cannot now be repeated due to the system changes we have made.”
The incident has also sparked questions about why Wimbledon, unlike other major tournaments such as the Australian Open, US Open, and Masters events, does not have a video-review system as a backup measure. This lack of a secondary verification method has raised concerns among players and officials alike.
During the incident, the coordination between the technology and the officials failed when the system was inadvertently “unticked” – an error that had never occurred before. The system uses 50 operators and 12 cameras per court, with one operator managing two courts while a review official maintains communication with the umpire. The failure in coordination led to confusion and disruption during the match.
The incident occurred at a pivotal moment when Pavlyuchenkova would have moved 5-4 ahead had the call been made correctly. After no intervention from the automated system, play continued before umpire Nico Helwerth halted the match, calling “stop, stop” mid-rally. The match was suspended for approximately four minutes while officials checked whether the system was functioning properly. No replay was shown on screen by Hawk-Eye, as typically occurs for points deemed “close calls.”
Pavlyuchenkova was furious with Helwerth for ordering the point to be replayed, accusing him of stealing the game and alleging tournament bias towards the home player. Kartal, who said she didn’t know whether the ball was in or out, defended Helwerth’s handling of the situation.
Helwerth was not assigned any matches on Monday, though the All England Club stated this was a pre-arranged day off. Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton explained that the error involved both an individual switching off the cameras and another official failing to alert the umpire.
“The chair umpire was in communication with the review official and he was not being informed that the system had been partially deactivated. The chair umpire was not operating with perhaps the full set of information,” she said. Bolton emphasized that “the ball-tracking technology has been working optimally during the Championships” and that “it was a human error.”
The All England Club apologised to both players following the incident. “We’re deeply disappointed that this has happened in the Championships,” Bolton stated. Wimbledon maintains full confidence in the accuracy of the ball-tracking technology, noting that “the live ELC system relies on the Hawk-Eye operators, the review official and the technology to work in harmony. This did not happen.”
