After a 2020 tennis season marked by postponements and cancellations, the new season promises to be just as difficult and complex. To date, the global coronavirus pandemic has resulted in nearly 2 million deaths worldwide and infected nearly 90 million people.
The Tokyo Olympics last year will also take place next summer, postponed by twelve months. According to Simon Cambers, a tennis majors journalist, all of the hard court Masters 1000 tournaments that will be held in 2021 (Miami, Canada Open, Cincinnati, Shanghai, Paris-Bercy and – maybe – Indian Wells) will include the Hawk-Eye Live Use system to replace line judges and reduce the risk of infection.
This is a technology that was already used at the Next Gen Finals in Milan 2017 and was also used in some areas of the latest edition of the US Open. Former South African Top 5 Kevin Anderson said: “We discussed this technology in the Players Council.
I learned that the Australian Open will use it on all courts. The system works very well and I believe it eliminates the unsafe calling problem altogether. The appearance of the Covid-19 virus has likely accelerated this process, as the system has the advantage of minimizing human contact and, as a result, reducing the risk of infection.
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‘Hawk-Eye’ on sand too?
Although the technology is only used on fast courts, it has often been requested by players for sand tournaments as well. “I fully support the use of Hawk Eye on sand, too,” said two-time French Open finalist Dominic Thiem.
“It would be great if this happened as it would avoid any controversy about the brand the ball leaves. I think it’s something that needs to be set up. “The Australian Open 2021 starts in just under a month: The Serbian Novak Djokovic defends the title, which has won eight times here. Photo credit: Hawk Eye
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