Wimbledon electronic line calling failure: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova loses game after non-call
New York Times5 days
Wimbledon Overhauls Electronic Line System After Malfunction
Above: nastasia Pavlyuchenkova in discussion with the umpire on July 6, 2025 in London, England. Image copyright: Rob Newell/CameraSport/Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
This embarrassing malfunction proves electronic systems aren't ready to replace human judgment. The technology failed at the worst possible moment and it could potentially alter match outcomes and create unfair advantages moving forward. Traditional line judges worked for 147 years without such catastrophic failures.
Narrative B
The electronic system worked perfectly — this incident was caused by a human operator error that has now been fixed with updated safeguards. Electronic line calling is more accurate than human judges and is used successfully across professional tennis. One isolated incident shouldn't overshadow the technology's success.