Hawkeye fire alarm sparks court evacuation during Wozniacki US Open tie as Ostapenko at forefront of hilarious social media posts
WTATuesday, 03 September 2024 at 10:12
The tie between Caroline Wozniacki and Beatriz Haddad Maia was among those to get halted momentarily on Monday at the 2024 US Open for a bizarre reason.
A fire alarm went off at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center ironically inside the building housing the Hawkeye, electronic line calling system. Footage showed those in the building evacuating and officials on the court had to stop play.
They do not have line judges and completely rely on hawkeye meaning that until the issue was resolved they couldn't play. "This is a first" exclaimed Wozniacki during the disruption.
They were in the middle of their first set of their fourth round contest when Marijana Veljovic halted the match. Whilst Daniil Medvedev was facing Nuno Borges leading 6-0, 6-1, 1-2 when play was suddenly stopped.
"Due to a fire alarm in the broadcast building, which also houses ELC Live operations, play was halted throughout the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as the building was evacuated. Following the determination that this was only an alarm, play was resumed. In total, play was halted for six minutes," the statement from tournament organizers read.
But it also led to hilarity on social media when everything was confirmed to be fine. This is due to Jelena Ostapenko's previous issues with the system. Many jokingly blamed it on the Latvian and made edits of her in the control room.
In the end both matches restarted but showed that without the hawkeye system and technology, it is very much.a difficult task as they soon found out.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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