The 2006 Nasdaq-100 Open played in Miami, Florida, marked the first professional tennis tournament in which players were given the ability to "challenge" an initial ruling made by an official with use of instant replay. The initial ruling or "call" by the official was able to be reviewed by the Hawk-Eye system, which uses high-speed video cameras from multiple angles around the court to provide a digitally simulated picture of where the ball landed on a disputed shot. In 2008, all of the major governing bodies of professional tennis, including the ITF, ATP, WTA Tour and Grand Slam Committee, agreed to adapt a unified Hawk-Eye challenge system.
How Often Players Can Challenge
The unified rules established in 2008 implemented a "3 plus 1" player challenge system. This essentially means each player is allowed a maximum of three incorrect challenges per set, after which they are not permitted to challenge again in that set, unless the set goes to a tiebreaker. In the case of a tiebreaker, each player will receive one additional challenge. Challenges cannot be carried over from one set to another. If a player is correct with a challenge, they retain their current number of challenges.
When Players Are Allowed To Challenge
As indicated on the official website of the Wimbledon 2009 Championships, a player may only challenge a line call on either a point-ending shot or immediately after returning the shot in question. If the point is not stopped by the player after this initial return, they can no longer challenge the call.
Results of Player Challenges
Statistics taken from the Wimbledon tennis tournament in 2009 showed that only 29.62 percent of player challenges were correct in the men's singles tournament, while 29.23 percent of challenges were correct in the women's singles tournament. In the case of incorrect challenges, players are deducted one of their three challenges available for the set. If the challenge in found to be correct by the Hawk-Eye replay, the score is then adjusted.
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