An emotional Emma Raducanu hit out at some ‘very wrong’ calls by Hawk-Eye following her Wimbledon exit at the hands of favourite Aryna Sabalenka.
Raducanu produced a brave, at times brilliant performance against world number one Sabalenka but ultimately fell short as she exited her home Grand Slam in the third round.
The British number one remarkably saved seven set points in a tight first set before breaking Sabalenka herself to give herself a chance to take a crucial lead.
Serving for the set, Raducanu trailed 40-0 and could not recover as Sabalenka broke back to force a tie-break.
It was Sabalenka’s turn to save a set point in the tie-break and the three-time Grand Slam champion went on to take the set.
The second set also proved to be tightly contested but Sabalenka broke Raducanu at a crucial point before booking her place in the fourth round.
Raducanu was surprised Hawk-Eye did not award her a point at one stage of the match and the 22-year-old was still adamant the ball was out while speaking in her press conference.
Electronic Line Calling was introduced for this year’s Championships to replace traditional line judges and while Raducanu was mostly happy with the technology, she said it was ‘disappointing’ that mistakes were still being made.
British men’s number one Jack Draper also questioned some of the decisions made during his second-round defeat to Marin Cilic.
Carlos Alcaraz, the two-time defending champion, was heard complaining to the chair umpire about the technology during his third-round win.
Asked about the incident which led to her briefly approaching the chair umpire, who said it was not possible to challenge calls, Raducanu said: ‘Yeah, I mean, that call was, like, for sure out.
‘It’s kind of disappointing, the tournament here, that the calls can be so wrong, but for the most part they’ve been okay
‘It’s just, like, I’ve had a few in my other matches, too, that have been very wrong. So yeah, I don’t know. Hopefully they can kind of fix that.’
Raducanu understandably looked emotional in her press conference but insisted she would try to find some ‘pride’ in the way she played.
The British tennis star has largely struggled since her incredible victory at the US Open in 2021 but showed promising signs this week at the All England Club.
‘I think it’s difficult to see that right now, having just come off,’ she said. ‘It’s hard. It’s hard to take a loss like that.
‘At the same time, I’m playing Aryna, who is No. 1 in the world, a great champion. I have to be proud of my effort today.’
More to follow…