Tennis story by Carl Anders, Sun, 30 Oct 2005 06:04:00 GMT


LONDON: Tennis umpires will have a new tool to track the ball's trajectory so that they can rule on disputed line calls. The tool, called Hawk-Eye, will offer instant replays of the ball's movements at a tournament. The technology will be tested at the Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall from 29 November. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has recently approved the tool.

Hawk-Eye uses cameras to track the ball's movement. While the technology has been used by television commentators at Grand Slam and Tennis Masters tournaments on the ATP Tour for three years, umpires have never used it to make official decisions on line calls during play.

The ITF had approved the latest version of Hawk-Eye after testing, and the ATP and WTA tours are looking into using the tool and devising rules.

The use of the tool to monitor line calls has been welcomed by none other than veteran John McEnroe. "I'm all for it, it's about time it was introduced," he said.

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