The umpire who officiated the fourth-round match that featured a controversial line call is having a “rest day” on Monday, according to the All England Club's chief executive.
Nico Helwerth, who was the chair umpire for the fourth round match between Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, was at the centre of the controversy after an operator error meant that the new electronic line calling technology was deactivated for one game.
Kartal sent a shot long when game point down at 4-4, though this was not detected and the system instead made automated calls to "stop".
And Helwerth then opted to replay the point, which Kartal then won. He was criticised by Pavlyuchenkova, who said at the time that he “took the game away from me”, later adding that “the chair umpire should be able to take the initiative”.
When asked about Helwerth’s absence from the match list for Monday 7 July, All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said that the competition has “rotation of our umpires regularly”, reports the BBC.
“A little bit like the players, the umpires also need rest days throughout the tournament. So he's having a rest day today.
"He's fine. Look, it's really important to say that the umpire followed the protocols in place. He did what he needed to do on court and acted entirely correctly,” added Bolton.
In this case, the rulebook states that if the electronic line-calling system is unable to make the call, then the chair umpire should make it. If they are unable to determine whether the ball was in or out, the point should be replayed.
The new technology was introduced at this year's tournament, and is an enhanced version of the previous Hawk-Eye system.
In a statement on the new system, a Wimbledon spokesperson said: “We continue to have full confidence in the accuracy of the ball-tracking technology. The live ELC system relies on the Hawk-Eye operators, the review official and the technology to work in harmony. This did not happen.
"In this instance there was a human error and as a consequence we have fully reviewed our processes and made the appropriate changes."
