The Tennis Debate: Human Calls vs Tech at the French Open

The French Open keeps its old‑school judges while tech fans push for change. A former Wimbledon semi‑finalist, Tim Henman, said he likes the tradition but still wants electronic line calling (ELC). He also noted that on clay, the ball mark can be confusing. The tournament’s president says the court is 134 years old and that people want to keep human referees. He argues that the technology might misread a ball mark on moving clay. Experts disagree. Paul Hawkins, who helped build Hawk‑Eye, says the system works on clay if players accept ball marks.He thinks keeping the old method can still be fair. Players are upset when a call seems wrong. Elena Rybakina stopped at the net and yelled that the system was wrong after a serve. Another match had a heated argument in the fifth set over a break point call. The debate is loud and growing. Some say that using tech would make the game more accurate, while others value tradition. The French Open has not yet switched to ELC for this season. Will the tournament finally adopt tech or keep its old judges? Only time will tell if players and fans can agree on the best way to decide a ball.