“I’m a fan of the electronic line calling, but the ball was…like four, five centimeters [out],” Alexander Zverev said.
By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, April 27, 2025
Photo credit: Alberto Gardin/Eurasia Sport/Getty
Top seeds continue suggesting Hawk Eye needs an eye exam.
Serving for the second set at 5-4 in today’s Mutua Madrid Open match, Alexander Zverev was convinced an approach shot from opponent Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, which Hawk-Eye called good, actually landed wide.
The top-seeded Zverev implored chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani to come down on court and check the mark.
“From here, I cannot tell,” Lahyani told Zverev. “Alexander, you need to accept the call. It’s the same [system] for both.”
That reasoning did not sway the German, who pulled out his smart phone to take a photo of the ball mark. Lahyani hit Zverev with an unsportsmanlike conduct warning.
Zverev wound up dropping serve at love after that call, but rallied to defeat the last Spanish man in the field 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(0) and score his seventh straight win.
Afterward, Munich champion Zverev said there was a “defect in the system” on that particular call and conceded he’ll likely be fined for pausing play to take that snap shot.
“I mean, I honestly think there was a defect in the system,” Zverev told the media in Madrid. “I think there was a mistake in the system in that moment. I’m a fan of the electronic line calling, but the ball was, you know, it’s not like a little bit, with one millimeter in, one millimeter out, it was like four, five centimeters, it was like this.
“So I think, I honestly think that there was a malfunction in the system in that moment. That’s why I went to the umpire and I said, Please, come down to have a look at this, I’m not crazy (laughing), I can see what was happening.”
It’s the second time in the last two tournaments, a top seed has pulled out a phone to take a photo of a questionable call. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka pulled the same photo finish move in Stuttgart last week.
Zverev said he believes normally, Hawk-Eye is “reliable”, but is convinced the system blew the call in this case.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens now, what kind of fine I will get, even though I’m right (laughing), you know,” Zverev told the media in Madrid. “I hope I don’t get a fine, because obviously, in my opinion, I’m completely in the right and I should not get fined for this.
“But, yeah, this was not normal. Normally the system is very reliable. Normally the system has been correct so far in my experience. But what happened today, I don’t know.”
Blog RSS