BNP Paribas – Tournament Makes History With ‘Hawkeye’

The BNP Paribas Open makes history when it begins play. The BNP becomes the first tennis tournament to use Hawkeye on every court. “We’ll be the first tournament including the Slams that will run Hawkeye on every main draw match that is played in our tournament, ” said tournament director Steve Simon. “So all courts will have the Hawkeye technology on them.”

Typically, most major tennis tournaments only have the technology on three courts, the idea is to level the playing field for everyone. “In the past you’ve had the players in the stadium that would have the technology available to them, but if you played on court 8 you wouldn’t have the technology,” said Simon.

Hawkeye is an advanced, line-calling software that can spot a ball’s position within 3 millimeters of where it lands. It offers players the ability to challenge officials calls that might be too close to for the human eye.

Officials also like the technology because most times it reinforces the call that they make. “They like it because it shows that those tight calls that we make are most times good calls,” said ATP official Catherine Thomas.

The technology also enables fans to see the tight calls on screens around the stadium, adding to the fan experience.