The good thing about tennis is that it is not a contact sport. In relative terms, the impact of COVID-19 on tennis has been low when compared to sports such as squash. Nevertheless, professional tennis has started choosing technology over people. Many such changes are here to stay.
So, here’s a quick look at how some of the technology decisions that have changed the professional tennis landscape.
Computerized line calls
Line calls have always been controversial in professional tennis. From the days of John McEnroe bullying lines people to the French Open where umpires leave their seats to check ball marks on the clay courts, players’ incredulous reactions have always been part of the drama.
The Australian Open organizers computerizing line calls may have changed all that—no more temper tantrums about line calls. High-profile players are no longer able to intimidate lines-people to influence line calls.
With the two-challenges-limit per set, players often chose not to challenge line calls that may have gone in their favour. Whether the computer is always right or not, the adoption of technology in calling the lines has democratized an aspect of the game that has often been controversial.
The silver lining? Every player gets a fair shake.
The serve clock keeps things moving
The pros who wiped down their hands and face after every point in previous tournaments appeared comfortable playing through multiple points at the Australian Open. With the ball kids no longer handling the towels and the serve clock ticking, the players clearly decided that getting their own towels is too much work and not worth the effort.
If the hot Australian conditions did not warrant a wipe-down after every point, one can only assume that it was done more as a force of habit or simply because they could.
Technology may not be good news for commentators and the production crew
Whether you realized it or not, most of the Australian Open tournament commentary and analysis was done offsite by commentators located miles away from the Melbourne venue. With only two commentators at the tournament grounds and the rest of its analysts and production staff in Connecticut, ESPN demonstrated that they could effectively cover the games without spending the travel budgets associated with such events.
Sure, there are network costs and other expenses in getting such an arrangement set up and running. But, once done, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
Could this mean less paid travel for commentators to fun destinations such as Melbourne, London, Paris, and New York?
No mobile phone, no tennis
The Aussie Open organizers implemented many COVD-19-related safety measures that included digital tickets, cashless transactions, and fan zoning. While the cashless transactions enabled touchless interactions for food and beverage purchases, the zone-based seating allowed fans to watch the tournament with their family and friends.
The dynamic digital tickets (mobile tickets) required every attending fan to display their tickets on their individual mobile phones, which doubled as their contact tracing device. Paper tickets were not an option. As far as I could tell, if you didn’t have a mobile phone, you were out of luck.
Technology over people!
Some of these changes have been a long time coming. The odds are that most of these changes are here to stay.
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