The New York Times - USA (2020-08-06)

B8 Y THE NEW YORK TIMES SPORTSTHURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020

TENNIS SCOREBOARD

Carlos Silva, chief executive of World TeamTennis. “Is the system perfect? Probably not. Is it close to perfect? Yes. Is it more perfect than humans? 100 percent yes.” It also has the potential to put quite a few human line judges out of work, which is partly why the sport as a whole has been slow to adopt Hawk-Eye Live. There is also concern that it could make it more difficult to develop quality chair umpires because line judging is the typi- cal pathway to the chair. “I imagine I’m off a few Christ- mas card lists,” Japhet said.

“We’re not in the business of trying to remove people from the sport. It just happens to have been a byproduct of this particu- lar advancement of the technology. So I think there certainly have been questions asked on our side and the sport’s side as to whether this is the right thing to do.” World TeamTennis chose to forgo line judges and use Hawk- Eye Live for the last three years. The men’s tour has done the same since 2017 at its Next Gen ATP Finals, an experimental

Three weeks of World
TeamTennis at the Greenbrier
resort in West Virginia had come
down to a single point on Sunday.
In the last match of the final,
the New York
Empire and the
Chicago Smash
had a simulta-
neous champi-
onship point at
6-6 in the deci-
sive women’s
doubles tiebreaker.
Sloane Stephens of the Smash
hit her first serve in play. Coco
Vandeweghe of the Empire took
a bold forehand cut and her
return flew well out of Stephens’s
reach, landing deep near the
baseline.
There was no call by a line
judge, because there were no line
judges on the court.
Instead, the critical call was
made electronically, and though
Stephens and the Smash asked
to see a replay of the virtual ball
mark, it only confirmed the judg-
ment of the machine.
The replay showed Van-
deweghe’s shot had landed on
the back half of the baseline. The
Empire had a 21-20 victory and
the celebration — no model of
social distancing with group
hugs galore — could begin in
earnest.
World TeamTennis was using
Hawk-Eye Live, an automated
system that not only eliminates
line judges but also eliminates
the now-familiar challenge setup
in which players can ask for
human calls to be reviewed by an
electronic system.
With Hawk-Eye Live, the
electronic system makes all the
calls, even if there are some
familiar touches like the re-
corded voices that shout “out,”
“fault” or “foot fault.”
When a line call is particularly
close, the system automatically
uses a recorded voice that
projects more urgency. As in
GPS systems, different voices
(and languages) can be used and
during World TeamTennis, both
male voices and female voices
were used during matches.
“For us, actually having a
human voice still call ‘out’ rather
than using a beep or some other
sound was an important part of
making sure the feel of the sport
didn’t change,” said James
Japhet, the managing director of
Hawk-Eye North America.
But there is no doubt that
Hawk-Eye Live represents major
change and later this month it is
set to make its Grand Slam tour-
nament debut. The United States
Tennis Association plans to de-
ploy it on all but its two biggest
show courts at the United States
Open, scheduled for Aug. 31-Sept.

The U.S. Open was the first
Grand Slam event to use elec-
tronic line calling for its chal-
lenge system in 2006. In 2018, it
became the first Grand Slam
event to make that available on
all its courts. Now comes the
next phase as Hawk-Eye goes
from serving as quality control
and a broadcast tool to being the
first and final word.
The system also will be used at
the Western & Southern Open,
the combined WTA and ATP
event transplanted from the
Cincinnati suburbs that is sched-
uled for the week before the U.S.
Open at the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean
King National Tennis Center in
Queens.
“I’m happy to see the U.S.
Open using Hawk-Eye Live,” said

event for the best players under the age of 22. But what is driving the U.S. Open’s decision above all is the coronavirus pandemic and the need to maintain safety and social distancing. “Every functional area of the tournament has been asked to limit the number of people who physically need to be on-site,” said Stacey Allaster, the U.S. Open tournament director. That includes officials, and by using Hawk-Eye Live on 15 of the 17 match courts, the U.S. Open can drastically reduce the number of line judges on site: from approximately 350 to well under

Only Arthur Ashe Stadium
and Louis Armstrong Stadium
will still feature full officiating
crews of nine line judges who
work rotating one-hour shifts.
The other courts will have only a
chair umpire, who will call the
score after Hawk-Eye Live
makes the call and who will focus
more on monitoring player be-
havior and the pace of play. The
umpires will not be allowed to
overrule the machines on line
calls, only taking over if the
system breaks down during a
point and fails to make a call. If
the audio system were to fail, a
light attached to the umpire’s
chair would still indicate when
Hawk-Eye has determined a shot
is out.
The system is not entirely
glitch-free. During this World
TeamTennis season, Jessica
Pegula of the Orlando Storm and
Bernarda Pera of the Washing-
ton Kastles were playing a
tiebreaker in a women’s singles

match. With Pera leading, 2-1, she hit a ball that was not called out but that Pegula and her teammates were convinced had landed wide. They asked to see a replay, and it suspiciously said the ball had landed well within the court. “We were like, this obviously isn’t right,” Pegula said. “Hawk- Eye clearly messed up. If you saw the ball land, that’s not where the mark was at all. We switched sides and were arguing with them and the umpire got a call from whoever works the Hawk-Eye and said: ‘Actually you are correct, Hawk-Eye was wrong. The ball was out.’ ” She continued: “If we wouldn’t have fought about it, it probably wouldn’t have happened because the umpire just goes with what Hawk-Eye says. So there have been some discrepancies here.” Japhet said Hawk-Eye officials monitoring the system also have access to a broadcast feed as an additional tool for such rare occasions. But he said the automated system had been tested and shown to be accurate within two millimeters. Donald Young, a veteran American who first played in World TeamTennis in 2016, re- mains a convert. “Obviously with the Covid situation, it’s particularly useful, but apart from that, it’s just great,” he said. “The ball is com- ing fast, so you can see it sometimes faster with Hawk-Eye than with a lot of eyes. Sometimes it can be a little off. A couple calls have been inside the box, and the

guys had to correct it, but it’s definitely gotten a lot better over the years for sure. I think it’s more accurate now than ever.” The ATP Tour, which until now had only authorized the use of Hawk-Eye Live at the Next-Gen Finals, has temporarily approved the system’s use at all ATP events because of the pandemic. The women’s tour has for now approved its use only at the Western & Southern Open, which will be the first WTA event to use the system. Japhet said he expects a signif- icant increase in Hawk-Eye Live use over the next two years in part because of the pandemic and the system’s precision but also because of economics. Though operating the system is expensive with its 18 cameras, six of them used by a review official to monitor foot faults, it is also costly to house, feed, trans- port and pay daily wages to hundreds of line judges. “I think the numbers do stack up for tournaments,” Japhet said. “They have a net savings in using it.” Technology is ever more per- vasive in professional sports. But Pegula, a 26-year-old American, hopes line judges do not go the way of net-cord judges, who were gradually replaced by sensors mounted on the net in the 1990s. “It’s a fun part of our sport, and obviously adding the chal- lenges in to kind of question them makes it exciting and more entertaining for fans,” she said. “I don’t know if I would want to eliminate linesmen forever. It’s part of tennis, part of its culture. It’s more interactive that way.” But Silva believes more technology and less human error are inevitable. “I think that ship sailed a long time ago in the world we live in,” he said. “We’re all living on iPods and iPhones and asking Google to be our memories. I think it’s long overdue to have the lines get called automatically, and I think there are a bunch of new technologies around, not just the cameras and sensors doing it now. You might even see active paint and things like that for the lines, which might make it even more accurate than what we have now.”

Automated

Line Calls?

You Be

The Judge

CHRISTOPHER

CLAREY

ON TENNIS

The U.S. Open, which is set to begin on Aug. 31, will rely mostly on the automated system Hawk-Eye Live instead of on line judges, who will be used only on the facility’s two biggest show courts.

KARSTEN MORAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

ULI SEIT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The pandemic

accelerates the use

of a technology.

When a whistle stopped play
with four minutes, 27 seconds re-
maining in the Rangers’ season-
ending 4-1 loss to the Carolina
Hurricanes on Tuesday night, the
TV broadcast cut to a shot of the
longtime goaltender Henrik
Lundqvist, sitting on the bench,
arms folded, hair perfectly coifed
because he had not played.
Then the camera pivoted to the
Rangers head coach, David
Quinn, who, with his team down
0-2 in a best-of-five series, had
elected to start the rookie Igor
Shesterkin in Game 3 over Lund-
qvist, who backstopped the first
two games of the series.
The goaltender switch did not
change the result.
Carolina put up three goals
against Shesterkin, and scored
once into an empty net late in the
third period, eliminating the
Rangers from the N.H.L. postsea-
son, and prompting questions
about what the 38-year-old Lund-
qvist will do next.
Over 15 seasons with the Rang-

ers, Lundqvist set franchise records in wins (449), shutouts (63) and playoff wins (61). But as this season progressed, and before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the regular season in March, Shesterkin, a 24-year-old

Russian rookie, at times overshadowed the veteran Lundqvist. Shesterkin put up a 2.52 goals against average and a .932 save percentage in 12 regular-season games. Lundqvist started 26 games, with a 3.16 goals against

average and .905 save percentage, including having held Car- olina to three losses and seven goals in their regular-season matchups. Shesterkin missed the first two games of the play-in series, de- scribed only as “unfit to compete” because the league’s new health protocol prevents teams from specifying the ailments that side- line players. Lundqvist started those games, facing 71 shots and surrendering seven goals. On Tuesday night, Quinn chose Shesterkin, ending Lundqvist’s streak of postseason starts at 129. Chris Kreider’s second-period goal gave the Rangers their first lead of the series, 1-0, but it lasted just three minutes, six seconds. The Hurricanes scored their first of four straight goals to seal the series. Afterward, Quinn refused to blame Lundqvist or Shesterkin. The Rangers scored “four goals in three games. Our goaltending was the least of our problems,” he said at a postgame news conference.

From here, Lundqvist heads into the final year of a contract that is due to cost the Rangers $8.5 million of salary cap space. But whether the Rangers decide to keep Lundqvist at that price, and at his age, is unclear, especially with Shesterkin proving he be- longs in the N.H.L. as a starter. Alexandar Georgiev, 24, the team’s third goaltender, becomes a restricted free agent now that the Rangers season is done. The Rangers now have a 12.5 percent chance of winning the No. 1 overall pick in the second phase of the N.H.L. draft lottery, scheduled to be held after the qualifying round. Lundqvist didn’t speak to reporters after Tuesday’s game, but a glum and disappointed Kreider expressed guilt at shortening Lundqvist’s postseason and, pos- sibly, his Rangers career. “He wants to win more than anyone,” Kreider told reporters at the virtual news conference, adding, “He deserved better from us.”

After Sweep of Rangers, Lundqvist’s Future With Team Is in Doubt

By MORGAN CAMPBELL

Henrik Lundqvist started 26 games this season, but was at times overshadowed by Igor Shesterkin, a 24-year-old rookie.

JIM MCISAAC/ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOCKEY

BASKETBALL

N.B.A. SCHEDULE

All Times E.D.T. All games in Orlando, Fla. Wednesday, Aug. 5 Nets at Boston Utah 124, Memphis 115 Denver 132, San Antonio 126 Philadelphia 107, Washington 98 Oklahoma City at L.A. Lakers Toronto at Orlando Thursday, Aug. 6 New Orleans at Sacramento, 1:30 p.m. Indiana at Phoenix, 4 p.m. Miami at Milwaukee, 4 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Dallas, 6:30 p.m. Portland at Denver, 8 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Houston, 9 p.m.

SOCCER

M.L.S. IS BACK

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

All Times E.D.T. All matches played in Orlando, Fla. Semifinals Wednesday, Aug. 5 Portland at Philadelphia Thursday, Aug. 6 Minnesota at Orlando City, 8 p.m.

W.N.B.A. SCHEDULE

All Times E.D.T. All games in Bradenton, Fla. Wednesday, Aug. 5 Minnesota at Liberty Las Vegas at Washington Indiana at Los Angeles Thursday, Aug. 6 Seattle at Atlanta, 6 p.m. Connecticut at Dallas, 8 p.m. Chicago at Phoenix, 10 p.m.

BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East W L Pct GB Yankees 8 2 .800 — Baltimore 5 4 .556 2{ Tampa Bay 5 6 .455 3 { Toronto 3 5 .375 4 Boston 3 8 .273 5{ Central W L Pct GB Minnesota 9 2 .818 — Chicago 7 4 .636 2 Cleveland 6 6 .500 3{ Detroit 5 5 .500 3{ Kansas City 3 9 .250 6 { West W L Pct GB Oakland 7 4 .636 — Houston 6 4 .600 { Los Angeles 4 7 .364 3 Texas 3 6 .333 3 Seattle 4 8 .333 3{ WEDNESDAY Philadelphia 11, Yankees 7, 1st game Yankees at Philadelphia, 2nd game Miami at Baltimore, 1st game Miami at Baltimore, 2nd game Boston at Tampa Bay Minnesota at Pittsburgh Cincinnati at Cleveland Toronto at Atlanta Chicago Cubs at Kansas City Milwaukee at Chicago White Sox Houston at Arizona Texas at Oakland L.A. Angels at Seattle St. Louis at Detroit, ppd. THURSDAY Yankees (Montgomery 1-0) at Philadelphia (Eflin 0-0), 6:05 Minnesota (Maeda 2-0) at Pittsburgh (Brubaker 0-0), 1:35 Texas (Minor 0-2) at Oakland (Fiers 0-0), 3:40 L.A. Angels (Bundy 1-1) at Seattle (Walker 1-1), 4:10 Cincinnati (Castillo 0-1) at Cleveland (Carrasco 1-1), 6:10 Chicago Cubs (Chatwood 2-0) at Kansas City (Keller 0-0), 7:07 Houston (Greinke 0-0) at Arizona (Gallen 0-0), 7:07 Toronto (Pearson 0-0) at Atlanta (Toussaint 0-0), 7:10 Baltimore (LeBlanc 1-0) at Miami (TBD), 7:35 Milwaukee (Lindblom 0-0) at Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez 0-0), 8:10 NATIONAL LEAGUE East W L Pct GB Atlanta 8 4 .667 — Miami 3 1 .750 1 Washington 4 4 .500 2 Philadelphia 2 3 .400 2{ Mets 4 8 .333 4 Central W L Pct GB Chicago 9 2 .818 — Cincinnati 5 6 .455 4 St. Louis 2 3 .400 4 Milwaukee 3 5 .375 4{ Pittsburgh 2 9 .182 7 West W L Pct GB Colorado 8 2 .800 — Los Angeles 8 4 .667 1 San Diego 7 5 .583 2 San Francisco 5 7 .417 4 Arizona 3 8 .273 5{ WEDNESDAY Mets at Washington Philadelphia 11, Yankees 7, 1st game Yankees at Philadelphia, 2nd game Miami at Baltimore, 1st game Miami at Baltimore, 2nd game Minnesota at Pittsburgh Cincinnati at Cleveland Toronto at Atlanta Chicago Cubs at Kansas City Milwaukee at Chicago White Sox San Francisco at Colorado Houston at Arizona L.A. Dodgers at San Diego St. Louis at Detroit, ppd. THURSDAY Yankees (Montgomery 1-0) at Philadelphia (Eflin 0-0), 6:05 Minnesota (Maeda 2-0) at Pittsburgh (Brubaker 0-0), 1:35 San Francisco (TBD) at Colorado (Freeland 2-0), 3:10 Cincinnati (Castillo 0-1) at Cleveland (Carrasco 1-1), 6:10 Chicago Cubs (Chatwood 2-0) at Kansas City (Keller 0-0), 7:07 Houston (Greinke 0-0) at Arizona (Gallen 0-0), 7:07 Toronto (Pearson 0-0) at Atlanta (Toussaint 0-0), 7:10 Baltimore (LeBlanc 1-0) at Miami (TBD), 7:35 Milwaukee (Lindblom 0-0) at Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez 0-0), 8:10 Detroit at St. Louis, ppd.

HOCKEY

N.H.L. STANLEY CUP

QUALIFIERS SCHEDULE

All times E.D.T. All games played in Edmonton and Toronto Wednesday, Aug. 5 Florida 3, Islanders 2 Arizona 4, Nashville 1 Boston vs. Tampa Bay Montreal vs. Pittsburgh Dallas vs. Colorado Chicago vs. Edmonton Thursday, Aug. 6 Minnesota vs. Vancouver, 2:30 p.m. Philadelphia vs. Washington, 4 p.m. St. Louis vs. Las Vegas, 6:30 p.m. Columbus vs. Toronto, 8 p.m. Winnipeg vs. Calgary, 10:30 p.m. PANTHERS 3, ISLANDERS 2 Islanders.............0 1 1—2 Florida ..............0 1 2—3 FIRST PERIOD—None. SECOND PERIOD—1, Florida, Haula 1 (Hoffman, Dadonov), 4:02 (pp). 2, Islanders, Pageau 2 (Beauvillier), 16:26. THIRD PERIOD—3, Florida, Hoffman 2 (Barkov, Yandle), 0:41 (pp). 4, Florida, Boyle 1, 2:48. 5, Islanders, Nelson 1 (Toews, Pulock), 18:33. Shots on Goal—Islanders 8-4-10—

Florida 6-11-5—22. Power-play
opportunities—Islanders 0 of 3; Florida 2
of 5. Goalies—Islanders, Varlamov 2-1-0 (22
shots-19 saves). Florida, Bobrovsky 1-2-0 (22-
20). A—0 (18,819). T—2:21. Referees—Eric
Furlatt, Trevor Hanson. Linesmen—Steve
Barton, Devin Berg.

The New York Times - USA (2020-08-06)

B8 Y THE NEW YORK TIMES SPORTSTHURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020

BASKETBALL

N.B.A. SCHEDULE

SOCCER

M.L.S. IS BACK

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

W.N.B.A. SCHEDULE

BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE

HOCKEY

N.H.L. STANLEY CUP

QUALIFIERS SCHEDULE

Get our desktop app

Company

Features

Documentation

Resources