LONDON: Wimbledon’s controversial line technology system malfunctioned again as Taylor Fritz beat Karen Khachanov to reach his first Wimbledon semi-final, while world number one Aryna Sabalenka survived a scare to make the last four on Tuesday.
Swedish umpire Louise Azemar Engzell had to stop a point in the opening game of the fourth set on Court One when “fault” was incorrectly called after a Fritz forehand landed well inside the baseline.
The call of “fault”, rather than “out”, and positioning of the ball suggested the system was still tracking Fritz’s serve as opposed to a rally and the point had to be replayed.
Tournament organisers were forced to apologise and make a change to the system to avoid further issues after a major error in Sonay Kartal’s fourth-round defeat to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
On that occasion, the new system failed to call out when a shot by Kartal landed well behind the baseline.
A fully automated system has replaced human line judges at Wimbledon for the first time this year, in line with the Australian Open and the US Open.
The latest blunder did not stop American fifth seed Fritz advancing after another hard-fought 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4) win over Russian 17th seed Khachanov.
Organisers claimed the system had failed to reset because the ball from Fritz’s first serve was still being retrieved when he started lining up his second.
“The player’s service motion began while the BBG (ball boy or girl) was still crossing the net and therefore the system didn’t recognise the start of the point,” an All England Club statement said. “As such the chair umpire instructed the point be replayed.”
In the day’s later match, Sabalenka fought back from the brink of a shock exit to reach the semi-finals with a gutsy 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win against Germany’s Laura Siegemund.
Sabalenka twice trailed by a break in the final set on Centre Court and was two games away from crashing out before staging a dramatic revival to win in two hours and 54 minutes of unrelenting tension.
The 27-year-old top seed is through to the All England Club semi-finals for the third time after losing at that stage in 2021 and 2023.
Beaten in the Australian and French Open finals this year after winning the US Open in 2024, Sabalenka remains on course to reach a fourth successive Grand Slam title match.
The Belarusian will face 13th seed Amanda Anisimova — as the American defeated Russian world number 50 Pavlyuchenkova — for a place in the final.
Sabalenka remains the only one of the top six women’s seeds still standing at the tournament after two weeks of shocks.
The three-time Grand Slam champion nearly joined that list of high-profile exits in a memorable clash.
“That was a real test. I need some time to cool down and recover after this,” Sabalenka said.
“She pushed me so much. After the first set I was looking at my box and thinking, ‘book the tickets, we are about to leave this beautiful place’.
“She played an incredible tournament and match. I’m just super happy with the match and win.”
Meanwhile, Anisimova, 23, saved five set points in a dramatic second set on Court One before finally sealing the win at the fourth time of asking.
“It was such a battle there. She started to play some unreal tennis. That tie-break was super-stressful. I’m super-excited to be in the semi-finals for the first time. It’s special,” said Anisimova.
SINNER REPRIEVED
On Monday, top seed Jannik Sinner struggled with an elbow problem and was given an almighty scare before advancing to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon after a cruel twist of fate for his 19th-seeded opponent Grigor Dimitrov who retired injured at two sets up.
Meanwhile former champion Iga Swiatek found her grasscourt wings to fly past Clara Tauson.
Dimitrov, who had pulled out injured in his last four majors, played exquisite tennis to go up 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 but then crashed to the ground after a big ace to hold serve.
Sinner, who had been hampered for much of the contest by a right elbow issue after slipping and falling to the turf early on, was left feeling sorry for his opponent who threw in the towel after a short assessment by a doctor.
“I don’t know what to say because he’s an incredible player. I think we all saw this today,” said Sinner, who was by a tearful Dimitrov’s side while the Bulgarian was attended to.
“He’s been so unlucky in the past couple of years. He’s an incredible player. Seeing him in this position… if there would be a chance that he could play in the next round, he would deserve it. Now I hope he has a speedy recovery.
“I don’t take this as a win at all… just an unfortunate moment to witness for all of us.”
Sinner next faces American 10th seed Ben Shelton, who beat another Italian in Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(7/1), 7-5 to advance to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time, as did Flavio Cobolli, who downed Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4/7), 7-6(7/3).
Swiatek shrugged off a slow start to beat Danish 23rd seed Tauson 6-4 6-1 and set up a meeting with Liudmila Samsonova, who saw off Jessica Bouzas Maneiro..
Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2025
