On the Money

Before posting some thoughts on the Dubai final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, I’m happy to report that TW scored to huge scoop last Thursday (see my Trivial Pursuits post). We reported that the NASDAQ 100 tournament, which starts March 22nd, will be the first event ever to use instant replay to settle questionable line calls. A press release confirming my exclusive was waiting in my inbox this morning. It's official.

Miami will have instant replay, but it doesn't appear that the French or British are interested in keeping up with the Joneses; the first Grand Slam to use the Hawkeye-based system will be the U.S. Open.

The final hurdle to moving on this was a debate between various constituents on how instant reply would be deployed, which was followed by disagreements over the exact structure of the challenge system.

Here’s the model the establishment finally agreed to implement, starting in Miami:

So there it is. Anyone who has ever flung a slice of pizza at the TV in a rage over an obvious, demonstrably bad call - and one that only the players and chair umpire often seemed unable to review – will be doing somersaults over this.

The addition of instant replay will also add a nice, new dramatic touch to broadcasts of a highly charismatic sport that just hasn’t prove to be very telegenic.

It’s a great day for tennis, isn’t it?