The umpire who officiated the match at the centre of Sunday’s electronic line-calling controversy at Wimbledon is “having a rest day”, the All England Club’s chief executive said.
An “operator error” meant the ball-tracking technology was accidentally deactivated for one game in the fourth-round match between Britain’s Sonay Kartal and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Centre Court.
Kartal sent a backhand long when game point down at 4-4, but this was not detected by the line-call system, which instead made two automated calls of “stop”.
Umpire Nico Helwerth opted to replay the point – which Kartal won – but was criticised by Pavlyuchenkova and some pundits for not using his authority to overrule and call the ball out.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) said he had “followed the established process”.
Asked about Helwerth’s absence from the umpire rota on Monday, AELTC chief executive Sally Bolton said: “We have rotation of our umpires regularly. A little bit like the players, the umpires also need rest days throughout the tournament.
“So he’s having a rest day today.
“He’s fine. Look, it’s really important to say that the umpire followed the protocols in place. He did what he needed to do on court and acted entirely correctly.”
