Daniil Medvedev has interesting take on technology in tennis

Daniil Medvedev is a self-proclaimed hardcourt specialist who is a joy to listen to. The ATP Tour would be lost without his wit and sarcasm. He shared his opinion on technology in tennis after his loss to Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells on Sunday. Though it was laced with sarcasm, Medvedev raised a valid point.

Medvedev said in 2024, it is hard to believe that the chair umpire cannot show a player a close line call if not on the big screen in the stadium, then on the iPad he uses in the chair. He went on to say without lines people and relying on technology, a player no longer needs to challenge a call because the live system calls it. Medvedev challenges the assertion that it is hard for the umpire to access the play from the live system when he can talk about golf with his friends, open his iPhone, and see golf topics on X/Twitter and elsewhere online.

Technology in tennis is at an interesting crossroads. The ATP and WTA Tour operate differently as do the Grand Slams. Players have to keep track of the different rules at different venues.

Tennis continues to struggle with how to universally implement technology

We are a couple months away from the French Open where the world's worst lines calls are made. A spot in the clay where the ball allegedly landed on that specific point is relied upon when the naked eye cannot tell where it landed. When Medvedev talks about tennis being stuck in the past, there is no better example of it than in Paris.

With the Olympics being played on clay this summer, seeing how the International Olympic Committee handles the situation will be interesting. Yet another set of technology rules could be imposed on tennis players in 2024.

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