We all know several players don’t particularly believe in the reliability of Hawk-
Eye and some have been more public about their feelings towards it more than others, with Roger Federer leading the critics of the technology many years ago.
Hawk-Eye, the technology that simulates the ball mark in order to aid umpires and players with calls, is not used on clay courts since the ball leaves a visible mark on the clay, which umpires can easily check.
Yesterday, Rafael Nadal both succinctly and hilariously mocked Hawk-Eye when he was asked if he thought it would be good if claycourt tournaments had Hawk-Eye available on their courts to which the Spaniard said with a serious face: “It wouldn’t be good, especially for Hawk-Eye.”
While he refused to elaborate, Nadal said he believed he made his point “loud and clear” meaning he believes Hawk-Eye on clay would demonstrate how unreliable the technology is, since the simulated image might never match the actual mark on the clay.
Don’t you just love straighttalking Rafa?
Francesca Schiavone.
False alarm
Meanwhile, 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone received a standing ovation on Court Suzanne Lenglen after losing in straight sets to Kristina Mladenovic, which is usually a good thing. Except in this case, Roland Garros had mistakenly announced that the 35-year-old was retiring and the spectators thought this was her last match in Paris.
Talking to a packed press conference room later, the Italian explained: “So Roland Garros announced my retirement, but I didn’t. So you can stand up all of you and go back to work in the office because I didn’t say that. I will announce when I will want to stop.
“When I finished, everybody stood up. I thought, ‘I don’t know if it’s respect’. I loved and appreciated the situation. But I think everybody thought this because Roland Garros announced it.”
Awkward!