‘Turn the machine off!’: Doubles pair halt Wimbledon match after controversial Hawkeye call

The match resumed despite threats from Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram to stop playing

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury are the top seeds in the men’s doubles (Getty Images)

The top ranked men’s doubles pair at Wimbledon, Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram, caused controversy during their quarter-final match on Wednesday after calling a halt to their match and demanding for the hawkeye machine to be turned off over a disputed line call.

Salisbury and Ram, the No 1 men’s doubles team in the world, believed they had taken the crucial break at 5-5 in the second set but a challenge from the French pair of Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin determined that their ball had caught the back of the baseline.

It triggered a furious reaction from the Briton Salisbury and his American playing partner Ram, who claimed the technology was at fault and protested to the chair umpire Fergus Murphy.