This week’s Countrywide Classic at UCLA marks the third
time instant replay will be used on the pro tour.
Just like they did at the Nasdaq-100 Open in March and the RCA
Championships last week, players will get two challenges per set
and a third if the set goes into a tiebreaker. The Hawk-Eye
instant-replay system cameras and computers generate an image of
where the ball lands with respect to the court.
The introduction of instant replay has been met with mixed
reviews from players and others within the sport, but most are
optimistic about its future.
“Fans get involved. It’s an added dynamic,”
said Bob Kramer, director of the Countrywide Classic.
“It’s something fans are used to seeing.”
In other sports that have recently adopted instant replay, a
common complaint has been that reviewing a replay takes too much
time, but the Hawk-Eye system tries to make reviews go quickly.
“It’s such a good system in fact, that the
information comes up so quickly that they’ve asked them to
slow it down,” Kramer said.
“They need to slow it down a bit to add to the drama. But
it doesn’t get in the way of the match. It doesn’t
change the momentum. Let’s face it, we’re almost in a
test year just with the public.”
At both of the first two tournaments where instant replay was
used, some players did bring up the possibility that some would use
an instant replay as part of a strategy to throw their opponents
off.
“I don’t like the change,” said Lleyton
Hewitt, a former winner of the U.S. Open and Wimbledon.
“Occasionally there was a little bit of Mickey Mouse
sometimes where players, especially toward the end of sets, just
using the chance to challenge calls when they had a few up their
sleeve. So that’s probably my biggest question mark with the
whole thing.”
The Hawk-Eye system is scheduled to be implemented at all of the
U.S. Open Series events, including the U.S. Open itself.
“The U.S. Open is going to have it and I guess they feel
that it won’t take anything away from what we have and the
great sport that we have,” Hewitt said. “But obviously,
it’s a different spectacle and maybe it brings the crowd and
the spectators and the viewers back at home on TV into it a little
bit more and a little bit more exciting. So you can understand it.
But it’s going to be a tough one and until we have a few more
tournaments, we really won’t know whether it’s a huge
positive or not.”
Others, including Kramer, are more optimistic about the use of
instant replay in tennis.
“There’s a lot of confidence in the system.
I’m a fan and I’m looking forward to having it next
year,” Kramer said.
With reports from Bruin Sports senior staff.