Tennis: Electronic eyes on lines for US Open

(First Edition)

ELECTRONIC line judges are to be introduced for the first time at the 1993 US Open starting in August, the United States Tennis Association announced yesterday.

The Tennis Electronic Lines (TEL) system will be installed in the Centre Court, as well as the No 1, 16, and 17 courts.

'This is an historic event and introduces a new dimension to tennis. Even one call believed by a player to be wrong can affect the outcome of a match,' Steve DeVoe, the US Open tournament director, said.

'The US Open is too important to the players and their careers to let this happen, if we can prevent it.

'The TEL system offers the opportunity to take the accuracy and consistency of line calling beyond the limitations of the human eye and we believe this can be an important step in continuing to improve the fairness of the competition for the players and the fans,' DeVoe said.

The TEL system, designed by an Australian company, was tested at the US Open last year.

The study revealed that out of 2,956 close line calls, the TEL system would have reversed the line judge's decision in 301 cases.