The biggest mistake these players make
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- September
- 4
I just got back from the Serena Williams-Amelie Mauresmo match, and there’s something that I totally can’t understand: there was not one replay challenge.
So the linespeople were perfect? The players didn’t seem to think so. Plenty of times, Williams or Mauresmo would look at the umpire, look at their box, look at the mark on the court — anything but actually call for a replay.
You get two a set. Why not use them? What’s the harm? If Marat Safin is right — and he swears he is — the technology is sometimes wrong, which means you might even get lucky and have a call turn in your favor.
Deep into a set, especially in a tiebreaker, I would even go so far as to challenge any shot that’s remotely close. You’re going to lose your challenges anyway.
Maybe when the technology becomes more standard, players will be more comfortable using it. In the meantime, there’s no excuse for players looking around the court for confirmation on a close call. Just challenge it. That’s what the system is there for.
This entry was posted
on Monday, September 4th, 2006 at 10:49 pm by Harold Gutmann.
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