Electronic line calling on clay still confuses tennis players and fans. But is it the issue?

Did arguments over electronic line calling actually represent a step forward? The electronic line calling (ELC) system is the letter of the

Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court. This week, electronic line calling once again caused chaos on clay, a strange Madrid Open provided winning memories, and the wearable tech arms race evolved. If you’d like to follow our fantastic tennis coverage, click here .

Did arguments over electronic line calling actually represent a step forward? The electronic line calling (ELC) system is the letter of the law across top-tier tennis these days, but that didn’t stop an old stalwart of clay-court season from cropping up at the Madrid Open : Players arguing with umpires over ball marks. Alexander Zverev, Mirra Andreeva and Elena Rybakina all asked a chair umpire to come down and check a physical ball mark they believed to prove a ball landed out, which the ELC system had called in.

Umpires declined to check the traces each time. “This is a joke. The system is wrong, this is not a joke.