From a 1974 debut to controversial calls igniting change, tennis officiating has undergone a dramatic technological evolution. The 1980s witnessed the dawn of Electronic Line Calling (ELC), with Cyclops debuting at Wimbledon and the US Open. While Hawk-Eye emerged in 2003 for broadcast, it took a contentious 2004 US Open quarterfinal involving Serena Williams to propel its on-court adoption in 2006. Now, despite slower clay court integration, 2025 marks a seismic shift: Electronic Line Calling Live (ELC Live) takes over all ATP Tour courts. In a historic first, the clay season-opening Monte Carlo Masters has eliminated line judges entirely, a move hailed as enhancing the game’s enjoyment by figures like Brad Gilbert.

Remember what happened in Monte Carlo last year? In the semifinals, Jannik Sinner was denied a double-break lead in the deciding set against Stefanos Tsitipas – a call that proved too costly for the Italian. The Greek was down 3-1 in the third set and facing a break when a lapse in judgment from the officials saw them miss a double fault during Tsitsipas’ serve. It allowed Tsitsipas to make a way back into the contest and seal the deal at 6-4,3-6,6-4.

After the match, Sinner highlighted the controversial line call and said, “It’s tough, a tough one to swallow because I was playing at some point great tennis.” Even Coco Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert, had then come up with a tweet saying, “I will say again there is time for @atptour to make it happen, why wait till 2025 for electronic line calling…”

After years of disputed calls on the terre battue, the ATP Tour has finally brought Electronic Line Calling Live (ELC Live) to clay. Witnessing this, the 63-year-old coach, in a tweet, dated April 8th, said, “So much better watching MC on clay 🧱 with electronic calls ☎️ on clay, no more umpire interpretation of the mark or completely wrong 😑 mark.“

Gilbert has been demanding the implementation of the ELC for a long time now. In 2023, he even expressed his displeasure through a tweet saying, “still struggling why @atptour championships are not using electronic line calling instead of hawkeye, so much easier for the players.”

At times, even Gilbert’s ex-mentee, Coco Gauff, became a victim of poor line calling. What were his reactions in those times, though?

Coco Gauff’s former coach’s bold statement at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships

In 2024, there were several controversial incidents featuring poor line calling, and guess what? Coco Gauff became the victim of it at least three times!

During the third round match at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships, Gauff made a strong comeback to beat Karolina Pliskova by 2-6,6-4,6-3. But a controversial call during the second set by the chair umpire, Pierre Bacchi, drew severe criticism from Gilbert. The umpire had ruled Gauff’s serve at deuce “out” despite Pliskova returning it into the net.

After seeing this, both Gauff and her then-coach, Gilbert, got furious. For nearly five agonizing minutes, Coco Gauff fiercely contested the late call, demanding the point and the intervention of the tournament supervisor. Nonetheless, Gauff was “fueled” by this and claimed the victory in one hour and 53 minutes. Brad Gilbert later on came up with a tweet saying, “At a 1000’s should be absolutely mandatory to have electronic line calling, and this umpire should not work rest of tournament 🏟️ in my humble opinion.” 

Then, during the SF of the 2024 French Open, a similar controversial moment unfolded. In the second set of that match, Iga Swiatek’s serve was initially called out. But later on, in a bizarre manner, the chair umpire overruled the line call and gave the point to the Pole after seeing Coco Gauff missing her return. Gauff led to her breaking down in tears after losing that match and calling for improved technology in tennis.  

A few months later, she was yet again haunted by a similar moment during her third-round match against Donna Vekic at the Paris Olympics. Same venue, same player, and a similar incident! Vekic’s return was initially called out by the linesperson, with Gauff then hitting her return into the net. However, later on, the chair umpire overruled the previous call and awarded the point to the Croatian.

After losing the match to Vekic, Gauff said, “I feel like I’m getting cheated on constantly in this game.” Even Gilbert shared his thoughts on the same, adding, “I have said since we introduced Hawkeye replay calls like 20 years ago, That we should absolutely have incidental replays, umpires should have a tv monitor to look at replay, same with tournament referee if they come to court, must see replay quickly.”

The adoption of the ELC Live across all ATP Tour courts from 2025 marks a significant technological shift in tennis officiating. What are your thoughts on this, though?