by Some time in the middle of the emergency, the experienced chairman John Parry was a trip to the annual champions’ tour event in the Royal Albert Hall. The idea was to read a newly allowed device called Hawk-Eye, which promised to follow the progress of a tennis ball more precisely than the human eye.
“It didn’t actually work very well,” said Parry Telegraph sport. “The Albert Hall Court was built on a wooden floor, literally floorboards that were not perfect, and the cameras seemed to be waning.
Advertising
About 20 years later, the robots have conquered the vast majority of the large tennis events. If you go through the goals in all England Club, your presence is unmistakable. Each of the outer dishes is surrounded by six or eight green lamp posts, about 10 feet large and mounted with an HI-Tech camera that is tipped towards the lines.
The effect is strangely intimidating: part-checkpoint Charlie, part of science fiction drama. You look half the robots War of the worldsand fire laser rays in the crowd.
In the meantime, the usual crews are elegantly dressed civil servants – confiscated in their Ralph Lauren, lacking on the site. In the early retirement through the wave of automation, you will watch from home this year, even if each dish is to keep two so-called “match assistants” for smaller tasks such as accompanying players to and from the bathroom.
The Ralph Lauren clothing The line judges became one of the trademarks of Wimbledon – Pa/Steven Paston
“The lines were my unofficial family,” says David Bayliss, who worked in 1997 the lines in Wimbledon. “When I went to Melbourne for the Australian Open from 2002, I became so close in my crew that we were present each other, and I became the Godfather for her son. Home and so an important part of my life.”
Advertising
The ATP tour began in 2017 with automated line attachment, but the Covid pandemic gathered the shift strongly. When the All England Club started the Stampede last October and announced the news, they only bowed to the inevitable.
There are only a few different voices, even in the middle of the hundreds of officials who have been released. Despite these early children’s problems in Albert Hall, nobody denies that the ball tracking systems led by Hawk-Eye and their chief rival Foxtenn have exceeded the lines in every respect.
But there is still widespread sadness about the extinction of a great tradition that extended until the 1870s. Since bits and bytes replace flesh and blood, the game has lost something intangible: a feeling of human interaction.
“There is an exclusive club of tennis officers all over the world,” says Andrew Jarrett, who was the Wimbledon referee for 14 years. “It is a family of people who worked together at numerous tournaments and built up a wealth of stories, regardless of whether it is the great experiences or the war injuries that everyone carries on the way. So they lose this incredible sense of camaraderie.
Advertising
“What happened with tennis reflects the challenges that we all come to terms with Ai,” added Jarrett, “and perhaps the loss of employment that will affect so many industries. Nobody can argue about the enormous advantages.
Ralph Lauren Kit was an advantage
Until recently, a large slam crew would have around 300 people who worked for up to 12 hours, 80 minutes and then 40 minutes. They gathered between the Wimbledon layers and clapped a beautiful airy room in Buttery – which was attached to the side of the middle court. But the latest conversion of the facilities should have given them an indication of what would come because they were directed into a stygian room under No. 1. “The food remained the same,” said Parry, “but the ambience has definitely gotten worse.”
One of the advantages was the tailor -made Ralph Lauren kit, which would be updated every few years to make it look fresh. After more than two decades, Bayliss has a wardrobe full of striking green and purple striped shirts, which he sometimes provides for family members as gifts. “They appreciate them very much,” he said.
Advertising
Many line assessed the leading players and were at least partially motivated by the prospect of spending fourteen days in their area. Bayliss speaks warmly of Serena Williams, although she could be a difficult challenge on the pitch. “We had a young official who died of cancer,” he recalled. “Serena was contacted and made a wonderful video for him. It was very moving.”
After each performance, the judges were evaluated by their chairpersons and evaluated on a shift from L1 to L5. Officials with higher ratings were usually placed on the baseline or the service line, in contrast to the sidelines, since it is more difficult to pursue a ball that drives above your visual level than to follow you.
Line judges were accidentally in the line of firing when some of the fastest servers in the world were in court – Getty Images/Andrej Isakovic
“We speak of an enormously different group of people,” said Parry. “There were some who lived from line judgment around the world, but the vast majority were amateurs who took a break from their day jobs. We also had visitors from overseas, some came from as far away as India and China. Most were British. From an excess of politeness.”
Advertising
Parry resigned from the referee chair in 2009, after a uniquely respected career in which he headed eight Wimbledon final and developed a call as a man who was able to deal with John Mcenroe reliably. But he was not ready to leave the game back. “I said, ‘I’ll go back to my lines.’ Everyone thought I was crazy, but I really enjoyed it and it kept me fit.
The referee John Parry leaned in Wimbledon with a match between the Williams Sisters in the Center – PA
Parry, a former parachute teacher from the RAF, was 80 years old when he launched his final match, and he proved to be no Sinacure. “In view of my age, I thought I would do a junior match on Court 18 or so,” he recalled. “I got my slip on the second Thursday to determine that I was in the middle for the two Williams sisters who met in the semi-finals. On that day they knocked hell out of the baseline, and on the chair was Eva Asderaki, who was one of my students.
“When I started, I had the feeling that it had been okay, but I also thought what if I made a mistake? ‘The first thing people said is:” What the hell is a guy of this age in court? “
Advertising
Bayliss also remembers a particularly demanding excursion when the service line judge for the men’s finals in 2003. A photographer had come out of the pit and stepped out the machine that was aligned, so they switched it on, but it was a stressful day. “
David Bayliss first worked in Wimbledon in 1997 and saw numerous changes – Sport_Scan
The March of Technology was a slow but safe process. Many fans enjoyed the hybrid model that has prevailed over the past 15 years, and players were able to challenge at least three line calls per set. A rhythmic hand clapping often welcomed the projection of the picture to the large screen, so that the spectators enabled a short moment of the break from the overall voltage.
Some players were also heldouts. “Roger Federer was not a supporter of full automation,” said Parry. “He believed that the judges were part of the wall carpet of the entire event and that some of the incidents and inquiries contributed to the fun.” Andy Murray agreed. At least he did until he did not question a decisive call at Break Point in 2023 and accelerated his own exit from his last singles match in Wimbledon.
Advertising
After human participation is limited to the referee of the chairman and the two “match assistants” mentioned above, we can predict the recruitment problems at smaller events. Not every tournament is wealthy enough to set up a bank of cameras, and then pay Hawk-Eye or Foxtenn for ball-tracking software. And without the incentive for a possible role in Wimbledon, tennis enthusiasts could be less interested in volunteering for their local futures or Junior Knockabout.
The expensive Hawk -ye cameras in the All England Club are not available at all tennis levels -Getty Images/Glyn Kirk
“The only thing the officials all shared was a love of sport,” said Jarrett. “Everyone was very conscientious to do the job to the best of our strength. There was not much praise and a lot of money. There must be a reward there.
“In my own role as a referee, I often remember that I thought: ‘Jarrett, you are a happy boy who stands on the superstars of tennis and on the way.’ I know that many others felt the same way, and that’s why they came back year after year.
Advertising
For Bayliss, his colleagues came even closer to his heart when they gathered around him after a recent grief. “The community supports itself in times of need,” he said. “I know that when I go to Australia or America, I can meet these people and stay in their houses. We all worked together and experienced the pressure and stress of the court.
“It was just as much a lifestyle,” he concluded. “The structure of Wimbledon was always exciting. Measuring your uniform, organizing your accommodation and then going through the goals on the first day. You would meet friends from all over the world and spend the first few days to meet your life, and at the same time talk about what had changed around the site since last year.
He sighed. “I’ll miss it.”
