26-Jan-2012
THE NEWS
MELBOURNE: Tennis great Rod Laver on Wednesday joked that he preferred sleepy line judges to Hawk-Eye, following controversies over the referral system at the Australian Open.
Laver, the last man to win the ‘grand slam’ of all four major titles in the same season, said he did not regret having to rely on human beings in his heyday of the 1960s — even though they sometimes nodded off.
“Hawk-Eye? No,” he said, when asked if he wished he had the technology when he was playing. “There were suspect umpires at times.” “Actually, there were always sort of some fun stories. Wimbledon, you had to be a certain age before you could get into Wimbledon to be a linesman,” he said.
“At the same time you look back and the linesman is asleep. Again, it was amateur tennis. That was just a thrill for everybody to be part of Wimbledon and be able to be there. Now it’s a totally different world.”
On Tuesday, Rafael Nadal suggested chair umpires were too passive since the introduction of Hawk-Eye, after he rounded on an official over a line call during his win against Tomas Berdych.
And David Nalbandian rowed with a chair umpire for several minutes after being refused a Hawk-Eye challenge during his defeat to John Isner. He was later fined US$8,000 for allegedly splashing water on a tournament worker.
Laver, 73, also added his voice to the ongoing issue of tennis’s gruelling schedule, which players have blamed for injuries. Laver, who won 11 grand slam singles titles in a career considered by some as the greatest ever, said modern day players faced a tough itinerary with no easy matches.
“Back in my era, there were players that you would think would win the tournament. You had an easier one or two rounds,” he said. “Today the schedule is so rigorous that you’ve got to be able to play all the time because of the points (rankings) systems.” |
