Tennis player uses iPhone to prove shot was in at French Open

Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky used his iPhone to try and prove the umpire got a call wrong at the French Open.

Moaning at sports officials these days has been taken to a whole new level as Sergiy Stakhovsky showed in his match with Richard Gasquet at the French Open.

Stakhovsky’s celebrations were cut short during the first round clash when his shot down the line was called ‘out’ prompting bizarre scenes at Roland Garros.

The world number 101 was so enraged by the decision that he decided to put down his racket and whip out his iPhone to take a photo of the mark left by the ball on the line!

Sadly Stakhovsky’s ingenious solution to the lack of Hawk-Eye at Roland Garros didn’t pay dividends as he lost in straight sets, but what he did does highlight the issue that given Hawk-Eye technology is used almost universally in tennis, why have those in charge of the French Open decided not to have it installed.

You can argue that it’s not part of the games traditions, or some other stupid irrelevant point, but the fact is if all the original traditions were kept players would still be using wooden racquets and wearing long johns on court, so I urge the people in charge of Roland Garros update the tournament so it is the same as the others.

This story has just given me an idea for a Hawk-Eye app, I can sell it to all the players in both the men’s and women’s draws, that’s 256 sales right there, let’s see 256 multiplied by 99p= £253.44. Hmm not bad, add that to those who play the qualifiers and I could be breaking the £500 barrier.