ATP issues "common sense" rule change after electronic line-calling controversy in Cincinnati, Montreal

CINCINNATI—After a series of high-profile electronic line-calling incidents across the North American hard-court swing, the ATP Tour has let “common sense” prevail with a swift officiating update.

The change comes after players at last week’s Omnium Banque Open in Montreal and at the Cincinnati Open voiced their disbelief when Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz were each denied a point after similar malfunctions to the Hawkeye system.

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On Tuesday, frustrations finally boiled over during Fritz and Brandon Nakashima’s first-round match. A point was halted mid-rally by the automated system issuing a “stop, stop” call, causing chair umpire Greg Allensworth to determine that a let should be granted.

When the screens later showed that a Nakashima ball earlier in the point was well out, Allensworth opted to replay the point instead of awarding it to Fritz because the No. 11 seed “didn’t stop the point in time.” At tournaments like Cincinnati and Montreal, there is no challenge system in place because of electronic line-calling, with all ATP tournaments set to adopt this system in 2025.

“Don’t tell me that we need to stop the point when we have electronic line calling,” Fritz told the umpire in response. "Why didn't you stop (the point)? You're in the chair and you saw the ball was like a foot out...

"That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen."

When the ATP Tour’s official streaming service TennisTV shared the clip to Instagram, players raced to the comment section to agree with Fritz:

“Ridiculous decision... Ball is out, point is over, point to Fritz,” wrote Daniil Medvedev. “How was this not the outcome?”

“Ball was out, why are we replaying the point?” asked Alex Michelsen, while Corentin Moutet wondered out loud, “Is this the worst decision ever made?”

Ben Shelton, speaking to press in the Cincy mixed zone after his second-round win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry, said that common sense should prevail in situations where the ball is clearly detected to be out but the automated call comes late or not at all.

“We’ve never talked about before having to stop the point,” he explained. “It’s electronic, it’s supposed to be automatic. It shouldn’t be on the player to stop the point.

“So then, when the system messes up later and then you see that the ball is out? I think that he (Fritz) should have been awarded the point.”

Understandably, the most vocal critic of all was Tiafoe, the victim of a similar incident in Montreal during his first-round match against Alejandro Tabilo. “Bro this gotta get figured out… this (happened) to me last week,” Tiafoe wrote. “Do better @atptour y'all please do better.”

“Someone please explain to me how they didn’t give Frances this point when it was clearly stated that his opponent hit the ball out… genuinely confused,” added former player Ayan Broomfield, Tiafoe’s girlfriend, in a tweet at the time. “No player challenges, only electronic line calling. There was ELECTRONIC proof that he won the point.”

On Thursday, the ATP finally issued an officiating update on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to clarify the confusion:

“After recent technical issues with Live ELC in Montreal and Cincinnati, we have conducted a thorough review of our protocols. Going forward, if the Review Official determines during a rally that a ball was out earlier in the point (but was not called by the system), that decision will stand.”

The decision was applauded by players, who felt like common sense finally prevailed in what’s just the latest series of clashes between players and officials.

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“If you hit a ball out then you lose the point…. Groundbreaking stuff,” Fritz wrote in a reply to the ATP Tour’s tweet.

“There’s always situations in tennis that are unprecedented,” Shelton echoed in his post-match press. “With electronic line calling, there’s things happening that haven’t happened before, so if there’s no rule in place… I think that’s a common sense thing.”