Wimbledon Blames Human Error for Electronic Line-Calling Glitch During Key Match

Wimbledon officials have attributed a technical failure during Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s fourth-round match against Sonay Kartal to human error, after the electronic line-calling (ELC) system was accidentally deactivated for a portion of the court during one game. This malfunction led to a missed out call on a shot by Kartal, which would have given Pavlyuchenkova a 5-4 lead, but instead the point was replayed, allowing Kartal to win the game. Pavlyuchenkova expressed frustration, suggesting possible home bias and criticizing the absence of human line judges, which Wimbledon replaced with ELC in 2025. The All England Club apologized to both players and emphasized that the technology itself was sound, but the system’s deactivation went unnoticed by the chair umpire until after multiple missed calls. Wimbledon is reviewing procedures to prevent future errors, while debate continues about the impact of removing human line judges at the prestigious tournament. The incident underscores the challenges in balancing technological innovation with tradition and fairness at Wimbledon.