My Article on Juniors Reactions to Computer Line Calling at US Open; Top Seeds Upset in Berkeley $60K and Lubbock $15K

I was especially busy at the US Open Junior Championships this year, with my daily articles for the ITF Junior website in addition to my Zootennis.com posts. But I was curious to hear from the juniors about the computer line calling they were experiencing for the first time, as it was also the first time I had been at a tournament where it was being used.

I had an opportunity to talk with the USTA's Sean Cary about the system, so I could understand better how it worked and what it might mean going forward, especially for those who hope to make a career of officiating. It's obvious to everyone that the juniors are not going to have access to this system outside of the slams and perhaps not even then, with Wimbledon still using the Challenge system and the French Open, on clay, not using any technology for line calls. The one advantage that the computer system has is that it must be available for juniors (and wheelchair and legends) simply because so many officials have been eliminated. At Wimbledon this year, the Challenge system was turned off for the juniors on the outside courts, but that was an option (although I'm not sure what exactly was accomplished by doing that) because they still had line judges; that's not the case now at the US Open (and I expect the upcoming Australian Open to be the same).

In any case, the technology is still too expensive to expect its adoption elsewhere, but I personally found it less stressful to watch a match when I knew there would be no disputes over line calls.

That's not to say that I believe the system to be flawless; I think it may miss some close calls now and then, but with no appeal, with no human to question or blame, the call is final and there is nothing for anyone--player or fan or chair umpire--to do about it. 

Replays can be requested, but those are rare, and there is no chance the replay will differ from the verbal call.

I do think the system can be improved, with a visual representation of an out call added; right now it can be difficult to hear the recorded calls when a crowd is reacting.

Here is the article I wrote for the Tennis Recruiting Network; I had expected juniors to have some objections, but only one had anything less than positive to say about it.

I wrote yesterday about the top seeds at the $60,000 and $15,000 women's Pro Circuit tournaments in Berkeley and Lubbock respectively; today both of them lost their first round matches.

The shocker in Berkeley saw St. Mary's fifth-year senior Mariia Kozyreva, a qualifier, defeat Saisai Zheng of China 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Kozyreva, a 22-year-old from Russia, is ranked 1246; Zheng is No. 75 in the WTA rankings. Next up for Kozyreva is fellow qualifier Emma Navarro, who beat Kyoka Okamura of Japan 7-5, 6-2.  Wild cards Ellie Douglas(TCU) Reese Brantmeier and Vicky Duval also picked up first round wins today.

In Lubbock, top seed Michaela Bayerlova(Washington State) of the Czech Republic was beaten by wild card Margarita Skryabina of Russia 6-2, 6-2. The Texas Tech sophomore currently has no WTA ranking; Bayerlova is 540.  

Americans advancing to the second round today in Lubbock include qualifier McCartney Kessler(Florida), Adriana Reami(NC State), and Amy Zhu[6](Michigan. Gianna Pielet(Texas A&M) and Liv Hovde won their first round matches yesterday.