Why does the French Open not have electronic line calling?

The French Open still relies on an old-school method of judging line calls - (Getty)

The French Open’s decision not to use electronic line calling (ELC) has come under renewed scrutiny after an incident during Joao Fonseca’s win over Casper Ruud at Roland Garros.

With Ruud possessing set point in a tie-break to settle the second set, a forehand from Fonseca appeared to have drifted long – only for the chair umpire to rule that the shot had caught the baseline after inspecting a mark.

Casper Ruud was denied a set point by a controversial line call (Getty)

Hawk-Eye, the leading provider of ball-tracking technology in tennis, displayed subsequently that the ball had landed out, denying Ruud the set and prompting former French Open winner Jim Courier to question why ELC technology was not in use at the tournament.

The French Open is the only grand slam that still relies on human line judges to make line calls. Wimbledon broke from a 147-year tradition last year to introduce ELC, though endured several issues across the fortnight of action on the grass.

The Australian Open and US Open – played on hard courts – dispensed with human line judges in 2021 and 2022 respectively to solely rely on automated calls.

Electronic line calling uses cameras, computers and sensors to track the ball and inform the umpire whether a ball is in or out. Some have suggested that clay can impact the tracking technology and create a greater margin of error.

Wimbledon faced protests after removing line judges last year (PA Media)

Clay courts also have an advantage with a ball imprint being left on the surface, allowing umpires to check close calls, although there is an inherent degree of inaccuracy with this approach.

French Open director Amelie Mauresmo has said that the tournament will continue to back human officials – although opened the door to a possible change next year.

“What we observed at the clay-court tournaments leading up to Roland Garros is that the reliability of this system is not absolute,” Mauresmo said, with a review due to take place post-tournament. “As of today, the machine is not 100 per cent reliable, so we continue to place our confidence in human officials.

“We have received no real feedback pushing us in that direction [of electronic line-calling]. For us today, what matters is reaffirming our trust in human officials. We’ve made that choice for 2026. As for 2027, we’ll see. We remain open to any new technology that becomes available to us.”