In a first-round match at the Cincinnati Open between Americans Taylor Fritz and Brandon Nakashima, a malfunction with the Electronic Line Calling (ELC) system showed that even with no line judges and no challenging of calls, things can still go wrong. During what was ultimately a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4) win for Nakashima, he hit a forehand that was comfortably out and would have seen him down 30-40, facing a break point. But no ‘out’ call came from the ELC. The players therefore carried on, even though Fritz looked up when returning the ball as if to suggest that he knew it was out. He hit a forehand and the rally carried on for a few more shots before ‘stop, stop, stop’ was heard as a review official acknowledged the error. Fritz was noticeably annoyed when they were told to replay the point due to ‘technical error’, despite hawk-eye proving that the ball was out.
