Daniil Medvedev broke the fourth wall as he vented his frustration at the technology on display by looking into the camera and ranting during a break in his China Open semi-final clash with Carlos Alcaraz.
Medvedev was unhappy that he could not see a mid-match replay when at 5-5, 0-15, after the electronic line judge ruled in his opponent’s favour.
While sat down he turned to the TV camera and told the audience watching at home: “Why (does) ATP pay Hawk-Eye then? Hawk-Eye sucks, no? Don’t trust Hawk-Eye. Not my sponsor.”
After returning to the court, Medvedev went down 7-5 to Alcaraz in an entertaining first-set battle on the Diamond Court. Their contest included an incredible point while at 2-3, 15-15 as both players played out a lengthy and enthralling rally, which ultimately was won by the Spanish star to a huge roar inside the venue.
But Alcaraz also made complaints about the technology, insisting that Medvedev’s second serve at 4-4, 40-30, which he was unable to return, should have been ruled a let.
“I thought I heard something but I was not sure,” Medvedev admitted as he walked back to his chair with a smile on his face. “When you tell me, probably it is let.”
Hawk-Eye was implemented on a regular basis in tennis in 2006 and allows umpires to determine whether a ball landed inside or outside the lines on the court. The technology checks the trajectory and speed of the tennis ball via 10 cameras to make an estimation, with the margin of error thought to be between two and three millimetres.
Hawk-Eye was first used in a major tennis tournament at the 2006 US Open after undergoing tests by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), with a very mixed reaction to the technology among players.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were among those to speak out against the change, while Novak Djokovic felt that there was a necessary expense to be made in order to reach accurate decisions.
A controversial US Open quarter-final between Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati in 2004 was the catalyst for change, with a series of decisions awarded in favour of eventual winner Capriati.
TV camera replays even broadcasted Williams’ shots landing in, despite being called out by chair umpire Mariana Alves.
Alves was barred from the rest of the tournament after huge protests while Williams later received an apology from US Open officials, as Hawk-Eye was promptly introduced to curb any repeats of the incident.
