In a groundbreaking move, the line calling system was introduced at the Monte Carlo Masters this year, replacing the year-long traditional method of umpires manually inspecting the ball marks on the clay surface. Not everyone was happy about it. Arthur Fils complained, “I think we’re losing the charm of tennis.” According to him, having the line judges was more like “life on the court.” And it’s not only Fils; others have raised objections to the electronic line calling as well. During the Stuttgart Open, Aryna Sabalenka was handed a warning for taking a photo during a match as she was not happy with the line call, and the chair umpire refused to overturn the decision. Even the former Grand Slam champion, Victoria Azarenka, posted an image of a controversial line call from another Madrid match on her social media handle. Recently, the German star, Alexander Zverev, has been the new addition to that list! Is it right for the players to take pictures of the line call, or should they avoid it? Here’s what a former ATP pro has to say about this.

In Aryna Sabalenka’s case, she disagreed with an “out” call on her shot in her QF match against Elise Mertens. At the changeover, the Belarusian star even asked the umpire Miriam Bley to check the mark, and shortly after that, she took out her phone to take a picture of it. In another case, the two-time champion in Madrid, Alexander Zverev, was also seen arguing with the chair umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, over an electronic line calling, before taking a picture of the mark left by the ball. The incident took place at 5-4 (15-0) with the electronic line calling system calling a shot of Fokina “in,” while the German insisted the ball was out and the system had malfunctioned.

Speaking about this incident on the Nothing Major podcast, former American tennis player Sam Querrey asked Jack Sock whether it’s correct to take out the phone in the middle of the match and take pictures of this. In reply to his question, Sock said, “I’m a fan of it, to be honest. Like I think I mean that ball is like we’re not talking an inch…we’re talking like more than that. So yeah, if I’m a player, I’m going to take a picture of it as well. I’m probably going to like put it on social media. I’m going to talk about it. Yeah, that would upset me. So well, I’m a fan of what Zverev did. Maybe it’s not the popular opinion, but that would frustrate me as well.”

Despite all this, Alexander Zverev managed to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina by 2-6,7-6(3),7-6(0). Is it the first time that we’ve seen Zverev on the wrong side of a call on the clay? Well, remember what happened at last year’s French Open final? Zverev was on the brink of clinching his maiden grand slam crown, but a controversial call in the deciding set cost him the match against Carlos Alcaraz very dearly. At that time, he rued the absence of the electronic line calling and said, “I mean, I feel like I did everything I could today. The fifth set, f—, there was some unlucky moments. I heard that at 2-1 the second serve was out. From the Hawk-Eye data, I saw that. I break back there, I have break chances, and then in the next service game, a fifth set can go the other way.“

Zverev called it a frustrating ending to an epic match, but he also emphasized, “Umpires make mistakes. They’re also human and that’s okay.” What did he say this time, though?

Alexander Zverev calls for a change after facing the electronic line-calling dispute at the Madrid Open

Following his bizarre act of taking a picture of the mark with his phone, Alexander Zverev was handed a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. After the match, the German even took to IG to share an image of that faulty call, which stirred the controversy. During an interview later, he shared his thoughts on the incident, saying, “Honestly, I believe there was a failure in the system, I think there was an error in the system at that moment. I am a fan of the electronic system, but the ball was… It’s not just a little, a millimeter in or out, it was like four, five centimeters. Honestly, I believe there was a failure in the system at that moment. That’s why I addressed the chair umpire and said, ‘Please come down to see this, I’m not crazy (laughing), I can see what was happening.”

However, Zverev also admitted that umpire Lahyani had nothing much to do in that situation, so it wasn’t his fault, but he should have come down to check. “For an error like this to happen, yes, one or two millimeters I understand, but four, five centimeters is not normal. I believe there was a failure in the system itself, and when something like this happens, perhaps the chair umpire should be able to come down,” Sascha said.

After this win against Fokina, Zverev is now all set to take on Francisco Cerundolo in the R16 of the Madrid Open. Do you think the Argentine can trouble the world number 2 in this match? Or Zverev will cruise past him? Share your thoughts in the comments below.