Wimbledon suffers another AI technology malfunction as ball wrongly called a fault

By Ed Elliot, PA

Wimbledon’s faltering electronic line calling system suffered another embarrassing malfunction during the men’s quarter-final clash between Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov.

Swedish umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell called ‘stop’ in the opening game of the fourth set on Court One when ‘fault’ was incorrectly called after a Fritz forehand landed well inside the baseline.

The call of ‘fault’, rather than ‘out’, and positioning of the ball suggested the system was still tracking Fritz’s serve as opposed to a rally.

Azemar-Engzell ordered the point be replayed.

Tournament organisers said on Sunday they were confident of avoiding further issues with the technology after a major error in Sonay Kartal’s fourth-round defeat to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the women’s draw.

On that occasion, the new system failed to call ‘out’ when a shot by Kartal bounced well behind the baseline.

Had the call been correct, Pavlyuchenkova would have taken a 5-4 lead in the first set. Umpire Nico Helwerth instead ruled the point should be replayed, with Kartal going on to win the game.

However, a major scandal was avoided as the Russian, who accused the official of home bias, battled back to progress.

After an investigation, organisers admitted the technology was turned off in error on a section of the court.

Britain’s leading duo Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu have each complained about the accuracy of the system, which is widely used on the tour but has only just been introduced in SW19.

The latest incident is another embarrassment for the Championships, with the All England Club having staunchly defended the innovation amid controversy over the removal of line judges.

Wimbledon organisers have been approached for comment.