Wimbledon 2025: Emma Radacanu does not trust ‘dodgy’ electronic line calls

Emma Raducanu says she does not trust the electronic line-calling at Wimbledon, pointing to “dodgy” calls in her defeat by world number one Aryna Sabalenka.

The Briton was particularly unhappy when a shot from the Belarusian was judged to have clipped the line midway through the first set.

“That call was for sure out,” Raducanu said after a closely-fought 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 loss where she went toe-to-toe with the top seed for much of the match.

“It’s kind of disappointing that the calls can be so wrong, but for the most part they’ve been OK. I’ve had a few in my other matches, too, that have been very wrong. Hopefully they can fix that.”

Wimbledon replaced line judges this year with the technology, which is being used at many other top-level tournaments, including the US Open and Australian Open.

Asked if she trusted the electronic line calls, Raducanu replied: “No, I don’t – I think the other players would say the same thing, there were some pretty dodgy ones but what can you do?”

Raducanu is not the only player to question the accuracy of the system, with British men’s number one Jack Draper saying after his second-round defeat by Marin Cilic on Thursday: “I don’t think it’s 100% accurate, in all honesty.

“A couple of the ones today it showed a mark on the court. There’s no way the chalk would have showed.”

Debbie Jevans, chair of the All England Club, said she was confident in the accuracy of the electronic line calling and in the decision to bring it in.

“It’s funny, isn’t it, because when we did have linesmen, we were constantly asked why we didn’t have electronic line calling because it’s more accurate than they do the rest of the tour,” she told BBC Sport on Saturday.

“The players wanted it because they were asking us, why do we have linesmen? Because of potential human error. And now we have it in situ.

“We have to think of innovation and we’re just moving with what the court and mostly what the players expect.”