The 2013 Roland Garros is currently underway and while technology has revolutionized the game of tennis at the Wimbledon Championships for spectators, players and officials, it has yet to reach the courts of the French Open.
Hawk Eye ball tracking technology for example tracks the movement of the ball and generates a digital image of where it has landed on the court. It can also determine the spin and speed of every shot.
These digital images are used to confirm or contravene calls made by officials and challenges lodged by players.
However, without the availability of the technology at the tournament, a player took it upon himself to prove where a ball had made a mark on the court.
During the first round in a match against French player Richard Gasquet, Ukranian Sergiy Stakhovsky put down his racquet after he failed to dispute a call made by the chair empire (the ball was called out) and took a photograph with his iPhone of the mark left by the ball.
After the match Stakhovsky also tweeted the image that he took:
Well..here what you asked for … twitter.com/Stako_tennis/s“¦
“” Sergiy Stakhovsky (@Stako_tennis) May 27, 2013
Having lost the match, Stakhovsky plans to show the picture to the tournament supervisor in hopes of not losing any prize money.
Source: Sports Illustrated
