“This is a Scandal” – Fans Call Out the Electronic Line Calling System for Denying Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova a Crucial Point During Wimbledon Encounter Against Sonay Kartal

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Sonay Kartal to reach her first Wimbledon Championships quarter-finals after nine years.

“This is a Scandal” – Fans Call Out the Electronic Line Calling System for Denying Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova a Crucial Point During Wimbledon Encounter Against Sonay Kartal

Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (via X/Wimbledon/Firstsportz)

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Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s fourth-round match at the Wimbledon Championship was forced to stop for a few minutes after the electronic line calling system failed to call out a shot that went long. That led to the umpire insisting that the points be replayed, which led to a furious rant from Pavlyuchenkova.

At 4-4, Kartal and Pavlyuchenkova exchanged a long rally, but the former hit a backhand shot that went out of the line but was not called by the electronic line calling system. Umpire Nico Helwerth deemed that something was wrong and immediately called the match to be stopped.

He then announced to the crowd that there was a problem with the Hawk-Eye as it failed to call the shot “out” as it has usually done at the tournament. While the play was halted, several replays on TV showed that Kartal’s shot was clearly out, but there was no video replay available for the German umpire to make his decision.

After nearly three minutes of delay, the umpire then announced to the crowd and both players that the electronic system was unable to track the last point, so it had been replayed. Pavlyuchenkova was not happy with the decision as the point was meant to be given to her rather than being replayed.

The Russian star said to the umpire that he was favoring Kartal because she was the local hero. To add more salt to her wounds, immediately play resumed, Kartal wasted no time to claim the point and then battled hard to take the lead 5-4. Pavlyuchenkova continued her complaint as she returned to her seat.

Fans on X were furious about the call from the umpire and the electronic line calling system not keeping track of the points. Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans had to say:

The electronic line calling system was introduced at Wimbledon for the first time at this year’s edition, removing the long-standing tradition of a line judge. But it has been under serious scrutiny from players, who have often complained that it has called wrongly on several occasions during the tournament.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova regroups to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-finals in nine years

After Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova went down 4-5 against Sonay Kartal, she regrouped and forced the match to a tiebreak, before saving a set point and claiming the first set 7-6(3) after an hour and 17 minutes. She continued with the dominant tennis in the second set and didn’t give the British star any chance, ending the match with a powerful forehand that Kartal could not hold, winning 7-6(3), 6-4.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 5
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (via X/Wimbledon)

The win ensured she reached her 10th career Grand Slam quarter-finals and first at Wimbledon since 2016. After the win, the Russian star was asked how she felt reaching the quarter-finals of the SW19 after nine years. She revealed that she was immensely proud of the way she competed against the young British star:

It’s incredible. I always thought that I’m not good on grass. That’s just incredible. Especially me getting older and coming year after year. I’m so proud of myself for competing with these young girls at this stage and at this level. It’s just incredible.

Pavlyuchenkova is currently in her best form this season and has only lost one match in her last nine matches on grass. The Eastbourne semi-finalist is now bidding to reach the last four of a Grand Slam tournament for the second time in her career. To do that, she will have to overcome the winner between Amanda Anisimova and Linda Noskova in the last eight.

However, the World No.50 was diagnosed with Lyme disease in February and has spent several months struggling to recover her form. But before that, she also reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January for the first time since 2020.

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