It’s clear that Emma Raducanu was not happy about Wimbledon’s electronic line calling on Friday.
During her tightly contested defeat to top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the third round, the 22-year-old called out to the chair umpire over a line call, asking, “You saw it out as well, right?”
The controversial call, which Raducanu questioned, was a first serve by Sabalenka at 2-4, 15-0, which did appear to miss the line upon replay.
The serve ultimately led to Sabalenka going up 30-0 in a pivotal set during the match, helping her stage a comeback after going down early.
“That call was, like, for sure out,” Raducanu said in her press conference after the match. “It’s kind of disappointing, the tournament here, that the calls can be so wrong, but for the most part, they’ve been OK.
“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 fix that.”
Raducanu ultimately lost to Sabalenka 7-6, 6-4, and showed her frustration after the match.
“I don’t think I’ve really had a loss like this in a long time, where I feel like I maybe had chances and didn’t take them,” said Raducanu. “I think usually I’m pretty good at converting.”
“I’ll probably find it tough to sleep tonight,” she added. “It’s going to take me a few days to process. But at the same time, it really motivates me.
“It could be a good thing that I’m like, ‘OK, I want to get straight back to work.’ I want to solidify my game so that in the big moments I can back myself a little bit more.”
As for Sabalenka, she’ll face off against Elise Mertens on Sunday in the round of 16.
