© Getty Images Sport – Mark Brake
Jelena Ostapenko has once again made it clear that she believes the electronic line calling system can make a mistake.
Ostapenko, ranked at No. 10 in the world, has had several outbursts, in which she didn’t believe the automated call that was made by the electronic line calling system. While Ostapenko would be left annoyed and questioning if the right call was made, nothing would change as the chair umpire can’t overturn a call made by the electronic line calling,
After upsetting Coco Gauff in the 2023 Australian Open round-of-16, Ostapenko was directly asked to share her thoughts on the electronic line calling system. At the time, Ostapenko acknowledged that in most cases the system gets the right call but also added that “it feels like it makes some mistakes.”
In her return to the Australian Open, Ostapenko was asked to address her “argues” with the system.
“Ha-ha! I mean – yes, but honestly, as I already mentioned in the past, everybody trusts the Hawk-Eye system fully, but I think it makes mistakes,” Ostapenko told Tennis Majors.
Ostapenko would welcome line umpires back
Over the last few years, electronic line calling has become the new normal in tennis. With that being said, the majority of tournaments have switched from having line umpires to using the electronic line calling system.
In the same interview with Tennis Majors, Ostapenko said she would gladly return to the times when only line umpires were used for line calls. Also, Ostapenko added it would create more jobs in tennis and noted it feels a bit empty without them on the court.
Meanwhile, Ostapenko launched her ninth Australian Open campaign on Tuesday. In the Australian Open first round, Ostapenko saw off Australia’s Kim Birrell 7-6 (5) 6-1 to set up a second-round match against Ajla Tomljanovic.
After winning the Adelaide International last week, there is no doubt that Ostapenko will also be looking to make a strong Australian Open result. Last year, Ostapenko made her best Australian Open result when she made the quarterfinal.
