During the first game of the fourth set in a match between Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov, Wimbledon’s newly implemented Electronic Line-Calling (ELC) system unexpectedly yelled “Fault!” despite the ball being well in play. Chair umpire Louise Azemar‑Engzell quickly stopped the match, talked to the officials, and let everyone know that they would replay the point because of a malfunction. The All England Club later clarified that a ball boy had crossed the court right when Fritz started his serve motion, which led to the system mistakenly identifying the rally as a serve.
The crowd responded with a loud mix of boos, showing their discomfort with the complete switch to an electronic system instead of the usual line judges. With the Wimbledon AI buzzing in conversations, EssentiallySports host Andrew Whitelaw sat down with American tennis prodigy Alex Michelsen to talk at length about ELC.
Alex Michelsen shared some hopeful thoughts about the technology, saying, “Honestly, like I think the game is so fast that it’s tough for the human eye to really see it sometimes. And, you know, it’s just like, you know, how are you going to call like a 140 serve down the T that hits the line? Like, how are you going to call it? On grass, I guess you get the chalk. So like that’s easier, but it’s so tough for a human to see that like hardcore. How do you see that? You know, it might look out or it might look in, you know, it’s just, I feel like the electronic line call is the way to go, but obviously they still have to, you know, fix that a little bit because it’s not perfect.”
The 20-year-old tennis prodigy thinks ELC is on the right track, but also feels there are a few tweaks needed for the technology. He mentioned some real vulnerabilities, saying that even a random fan or ball boy or girl could mess with the system’s cameras. Despite the ongoing issues, Michelsen remains optimistic about the technology. In the Exclusive conversation with the EssentiallySports, he further stated, “So I bet, I bet I’m like, what are we doing? But I think electronic line calling is good. Yeah. Overall.”
However, while drawing comparison between the newly elected technology and line umpires, not only Alex Michelsen, but Taylor Fritz also shared his insights on the ELC.
Taylor Fritz’s optimistic take on Wimbledon technology
Alex Michelsen’s fellow American tennis star, Taylor Fritz, whose quarterfinal match against Karen Khachanov got interrupted, also defended the tech, stating, “There’s going to be some issues here and there but, to be honest, I still think it’s much better to just have the electronic line-calling (system) calling the lines as opposed to umpires.”
“I do like not having to think about challenging calls in the middle of points,” Fritz continued. “I do like that we don’t have to argue about calls and all this stuff. I think it’s a better system.” But his opponent wasn’t as convinced.
2025 Wimbledon Taylor Fritz USA *** 2025 Wimbledon Taylor Fritz USA
However, there are definitely some critics out there, including Khachanov himself, who mentioned, “To be honest, I’m more for line umpires. … You feel a little bit that the court is too big, (you’re) too alone without line umpires. Electronic line calls have to be precise and no mistakes, but we have seen a couple. That’s questionable — why this is happening. Is it just an error of the machine, or what’s the reason?”
Even with the hiccups, players have mixed feelings about it. You’ve got supporters like Fritz and Michelsen highlighting the fairness that ELC can offer, while the traditionalists are calling for more human oversight and some tweaks to the system before we go all in.
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