Alexander Zverev had to pause his United Cup tie against Zhizhen Zhang.
Alexander Zverev’s United Cup tie with Zhizhen Zhang was suspended in the second set as officials were forced onto the court to deal with a system fail with the LIVE Electronic Line Call.
World No. 2 Zverev had been struggling throughout the contest and had lost the first set 6-2, but up 2-0 in the second, a break in play allowed the German star to take some time out during the match.
The tannoy in Perth confirmed that an issue had been discovered with the LIVE Electronic Line Call, forcing play to come to a halt and both players took a seat at the side of the court.
Two United Cup officials went onto the court, with radios in hand, communicating to those behind the scenes as the problem was being fixed while supporters inside the RAC Arena were left confused.
Over 10 minutes had gone before Zverev and Zhang were told that they could start play again, as the former took the third set to start a comeback and ended up bagelling his Chinese opponent.
LIVE Electronic Line Call system will be introduced at Wimbledon for the first time in 2025, replacing line judges after 147 years at SW19.
Alexander Zverev waiting for play to resume. (Image: TennisTV.)
Created by Hawk-Eye and first adopted by the ATP in 2018, the technology works by tracking balls using 18 cameras set up around the court.
Those cameras capture the ball’s movement as a computer interprets the location in real time, producing an accurate representation of the court and the ball’s trajectory. A video operator oversees the technology from an external room.
Official protocol states that if there is a malfunction with the Live Electronic Line Calling (LIVE ELC) system then the match should be stopped immediately and the Review Official should contact the Chair Umpire, supervisor and referee.
If it is deemed the system will be operational in a short and reasonable time, the players will wait on court and resume play when the system is available, which was the case for Zverev and Zhang.
However, if the system continued to malfunction then the supervisor or referee would determine another option, which could include postponing the match, moving it to another court, using line umpires (if available) or continuing with the Court Umpire calling all the lines.
But as Zverev attempted to beat Zhang and land a win for Germany over China, the system was swiftly operational once again and the favourite prevailed 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 to put his nation on the brink of a quarter-final place.
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