Hit and miss Can the new technology win over players and spectators?

When the organisers of Wimbledon announced that electronic line-calling would replace line judges for the first time this year, plenty of criticism could have been anticipated.

- Tumaini Carayol

Some people lamented the likelihood of a more sterile landscape on court and the lack of a human touch, while the cull of about 300 linespeople was also a sore point. It is difficult, however, to imagine they were prepared for the firestorm that has followed its long-awaited implementation.

Electronic line-calling, or ELC, which uses automated ball-tracking technology, has, after all, long been used in professional tennis tournaments. It has been four years since the Australian Open became the first grand slam tournament to use it and this year, for the first time, the men's tour, the ATP, is using ELC at all of its events. The French Open is now the only grand slam that still employs human line umpires.

Instead of leaping into a bright future, however, the All England Club has spent the first eight days of the tournament defending its implementation of the technology.

In the first five days, the most significant blows were the parting shots from Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu, the men's and women's British No 1s, who each criticised the system after their losses. Both players believed they had been subjected to incorrect calls.