Tennis players grunt to improve performance, regulate breathing, and release energy during strokes. Experts say grunting helps maintain rhythm and prevents breath-holding, which can hinder movement and power. It may also increase shot velocity—by up to 5%, according to studies—and psychologically pressure or distract opponents by masking the sound of the ball or disrupting timing. While controversial and often criticized as excessive or distracting, especially in women’s tennis, it’s now common across genders. For many players, grunting becomes instinctive and is tied to their intensity and playing style.
Summary: Player faith in technology shaken by AI line-calling at Wimbledon (7 July 2025)
Wimbledon’s first full switch to electronic line-calling (ELC) has been marred by controversy and technical failures, shaking player confidence. Despite claims of improved accuracy (2.2mm margin of error via Hawk-Eye), notable errors and outages have occurred:
- Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper criticized the system after disputed calls in their losses.
- A major incident during Pavlyuchenkova’s match revealed that ELC cameras on one side were accidentally turned off, forcing a point replay. Pavlyuchenkova accused the tournament of “stealing” the game, though she went on to win.
Wimbledon officials insist the system is accurate and blamed human error, promising new safeguards. However, trust in the AI-powered system has declined, especially after shaky rollouts on clay courts earlier in the season. With skepticism growing among players and coaches, it’s unclear if confidence will recover during the rest of the tournament.
Roger Federer, even in retirement, continues to be a highly sought-after figure for luxury brands, embodying opulent allure and Swissness. His vast endorsement portfolio, spanning from Rolex to Lindt, reflects his longevity and unassailable status as a brand magnet. Federer’s clean image, coupled with his ability to adapt to new environments, has solidified his position as a symbol of elegance and sophistication, making him a lucrative figure for advertisers.
Roger Federer, despite his retirement, maintains a high level of public interest and demand for his return to tennis, even in exhibition matches. While he owes nothing to his fans, the allure of a potential reunion tour with Rafael Nadal, coupled with his business acumen and understanding of his brand value, presents a compelling opportunity. Federer’s success extends beyond tennis, with his investment in the On shoe company proving highly lucrative, solidifying his status as a business mogul.
•Match Result: Crystal Palace won the FA Cup final against Manchester City with a score of 1-0.
•Significance of the Win: This victory marks Crystal Palace’s first major trophy.
•Manchester City’s Performance: Despite dominating the game and creating numerous chances, Manchester City lost the final, resulting in their first trophyless season since 2016-17.
•Match Result: Crystal Palace won the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
•Winning Goal: Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the game.
•Key Moment: Dean Henderson saved a penalty from Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush.
•Significance of the Win: This is Crystal Palace’s first major trophy in its history and will qualify them for European competitions next season.
•Player Highlight: Eze scored the winning goal and was praised by teammate Chris Richards for his talent and leadership.
Opinion :
Congrats Crystal Palace!
This is a good development for English football. A winner not from the "Big Six".
•Electronic Line Calling Issue: Electronic line calling (ELC) system on clay courts is disagreeing with players’ visual assessment of ball marks.
•Player Reaction: Players like Alex Eala and Arthur Fils are questioning the accuracy of ELC, citing instances where the system contradicted clear ball marks.
•Historical Context: Clay court tennis has traditionally relied on human line judges and ball mark inspection, making the transition to ELC challenging.
•Technology Adoption in Tennis: Hawk-Eye ELC, an electronic line calling system, is being adopted by major tennis tournaments, replacing human line judges.
•Player Disputes and Technology: Players like Alexander Zverev and Aryna Sabalenka have challenged calls using photographic evidence, highlighting the conflict between human perception and technology.
•Future of Line Calling in Tennis: By 2025, Hawk-Eye ELC will be used at most major tennis events, with the French Open being the exception, continuing to rely on human line judges and clay court markings.
•ELC Accuracy: ELC has a margin of error and ball marks on clay can be misleading due to factors like court conditions and ball compression.
•Player Awareness: The ATP and WTA have attempted to educate players about the limitations of ELC on clay, but some players still challenge calls based on ball marks.
•Ball Mark Reliance: Players’ reliance on ball marks for determining the validity of calls presents a challenge to the acceptance of ELC as the sole arbiter of ball in/out calls.
•ELC Discrepancy: Discrepancies between ELC and human judgment in tennis have been a source of debate and frustration for players and spectators.
•Challenge System Limitations: The challenge system, while providing some recourse, was limited in scope and often led to situations where players disagreed with calls despite visual evidence.
•Player Perspectives: Players like Zverev and Fritz have expressed concerns about the accuracy and impact of ELC, highlighting the challenges of adjusting to a system that may not always align with their visual perception.
•Player Preference for ELC: Many players, including Sabalenka, Keys, de Minaur, and Svitolina, prefer ELC over umpire calls due to its consistency and removal of human error.
•Fils’s Opposition to ELC: Fils advocates for returning to traditional line judges and umpires, believing they should maintain their authority.
•Shapovalov’s Experience with Line Calls: Shapovalov, despite acknowledging the difficulty of accepting machine-made calls, still prefers ELC over umpire decisions based on their interpretation of ball marks.
•Electronic Line Calling (ELC) Impact: Players are adjusting to ELC, which recalibrates their understanding of the sport.
•Player Acceptance: Despite potential preference for umpires, players like ΕwiΔ tek are accepting ELC.
•ΕwiΔ tek’s Stance: ΕwiΔ tek believes focusing on ELC versus umpires is unproductive and chooses to accept the system in place.
•Impact on Ukrainian Players: The war is an everyday reality that affects every aspect of their careers.
•Russian Players’ Stance: Some Russian players, like Andrey Rublev and Daria Kasatkina, have spoken out against the war.
•Tournament Policies: Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarusian players in 2022, leading to ranking points being withheld by the ATP and WTA.
•Tennis and the War: Tennis is uniquely impacted by the war due to the high number of Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian players on the WTA Tour.
•Ukrainian Players: There are four Ukrainian players in the WTA Tour top 100, including Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk, Dayana Yastremska, and Anhelina Kalinina.
•Russian and Belarusian Players: There are 14 Russians and Belarusians in the WTA top 100, including world No. 1 Sabalenka and world No. 7 Mirra Andreeva.
•US Stance on Ukraine War: The US will decide if ending the war is feasible after meetings in Paris.
•Impact on Ukrainian Tennis Players: Ukrainian players face immense challenges, pressure, and uncertainty due to the war, including communicating with family members in Ukraine.
•Tsurenko’s Lawsuit Against WTA: Lesia Tsurenko filed a lawsuit against the WTA and its chairman, alleging breach of contract, negligence, and emotional distress related to the WTA’s response to the Russian invasion.
•WTA’s Stance on Russian and Belarusian Athletes: Allowed to compete without national flags, a policy rooted in the belief that athletes shouldn’t be penalized for their governments’ actions.
•Ukrainian Players’ Response: Refuse to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players, even those who oppose the war.
•Impact of the War on Ukrainian Players: Constant reminders of the conflict in their sport, contrasting with the war’s fluctuating visibility in the wider tennis community.
The number of times tennis players have complained about line calls on clay courts is not systematically tracked, making an exact count impossible. However, the nature of clay courts—where the ball leaves a visible mark—reduces disputes compared to other surfaces. Here’s a breakdown of key factors:
1. Clay Court Dynamics:
- Players and officials can inspect ball marks to verify line calls, which minimizes ambiguity. This system often leads to fewer complaints than on grass or hard courts, where electronic challenges (e.g., Hawk-Eye) are used.
2. Tournament Context:
- At clay-court events like the French Open, players request mark inspections instead of electronic reviews. While data on complaints isn’t public, umpire inspections typically resolve disputes quickly, reducing prolonged arguments.
3. Anecdotal Evidence:
- High-profile disputes (e.g., Serena Williams’ 2018 French Open incident) show that disagreements can occur when players contest an umpire’s interpretation of a mark. Such cases are rare but memorable.
4. Comparative Frequency:
- Studies suggest clay courts have higher call accuracy due to visible marks, leading to fewer overall complaints. However, occasional disagreements persist, often tied to human judgment in reading marks.
In conclusion, while complaints on clay courts are less frequent than on other surfaces, they still occur sporadically. The exact number remains unquantified due to lack of centralized tracking, but the clay surface’s inherent transparency generally fosters fewer disputes.
Opinion:
I think it's a good move to use electric line just like Hawkeye.
The debate over the naturalisation of foreign-born footballers in Southeast Asia is intensifying as countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore increasingly rely on imported talent to boost their national teams. This trend, driven by FIFA's residency and heritage rules, has seen players from Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands, and other countries represent Southeast Asian nations. While naturalisation has brought immediate improvements in performance—such as Vietnam's ASEAN Championship win led by Brazilian-born Nguyen Xuan Son—it has also sparked concerns about over-reliance on foreign talent and the neglect of local player development.
Indonesia has been particularly aggressive in its naturalisation strategy, leveraging its diaspora in the Netherlands to recruit players with Indonesian heritage. This approach has yielded success, including a historic run in the 2023 Asian Cup and strong performances in World Cup qualifiers. However, critics argue that this strategy risks sidelining local players and creating a disconnect between the national team and its fans. The recent ASEAN Championship, where Indonesia fielded a mostly under-22 squad due to the unavailability of naturalised players, highlighted the team's dependence on foreign talent and the need for robust youth development.
Singapore, once a pioneer in naturalisation, has shifted focus to building a sustainable football ecosystem through initiatives like Unleash The Roar (UTR). While naturalised players like Kyoga Nakamura and Song Ui-young are valued for their contributions, the emphasis is now on nurturing local talent. Similarly, Vietnam has adopted a hybrid model, combining naturalised players like Xuan Son with a strong foundation of locally developed talent.
Experts agree that while naturalisation can provide short-term gains, long-term success depends on investing in youth development and creating a pipeline of homegrown players. As Southeast Asian nations dream of World Cup qualification, the challenge lies in balancing the immediate benefits of naturalisation with the need to inspire and develop local talent, ensuring that football remains a source of national pride and connection for fans.
Opinion:
When will Singapore be in the World Cup? I hope I can see it π . We've to make sports careers attractive for the upcoming generations.
Apple Intelligence: The Singapore Tennis Invitational Cup and the Singapore Tennis Open will be held concurrently at the Kallang Tennis Hub, offering a mix of regional and world-class tennis matches. This dual-format approach aims to engage a diverse audience, provide valuable experience for local players, and boost interest in tennis. The Kallang Tennis Hub, with its state-of-the-art facilities, embodies the inclusive spirit of the Singapore Sports Hub, catering to athletes of all levels.
This is a document about a long queue for tickets to the ASEAN Championship semi-final. It discusses the long queue that formed outside the Jalan Besar Stadium for tickets to the semi-finals of the Mitsubishi Electric Cup, where Singapore will be playing Vietnam.1The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced that ticket sales had commenced via an Instagram story on Sunday afternoon.2The clip showed that fans had started queueing even before the sales started, with many braving the hot sun and bringing chairs to prepare for the lengthy wait.3 The first person in the queue arrived at 7.30pm the night before. At 1.17pm, FAS advised fans not to join the queue if they hadn't already done so. This was due to the “overwhelming response” from the public. The first 10 fans in the queue had a surprise — they got to meet Hariss Harun and have him personally buy tickets for them.4 The lucky fans also got to pose for a memorable photo with the Lions' captain.
Iga ΕwiΔ tek, the world No. 2 tennis player, received a one-month suspension after testing positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) in August 2024. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) determined that the banned substance likely entered her system through contamination of an over-the-counter sleep aid she used to address jet lag and sleep issues.
ΕwiΔ tek accepted the suspension, which was backdated to cover the period from September 22 to October 4, 2024, leaving her with eight days remaining to serve. As a result, she forfeited her prize money from the Cincinnati Open, amounting to $158,944.
In a statement, ΕwiΔ tek described this experience as the “toughest battle in my life” and emphasized her commitment to maintaining a clean sport.
This incident has sparked discussions about the responsibilities athletes have regarding the substances they consume and the importance of transparency in anti-doping processes.
1. Srisun Express is offering three free pratas to Manchester United fans after the team's 0-3 loss to Liverpool.
2. The promotion is valid at all Srisun Express outlets in Singapore from 8 am to 11 pm on September 2.
3. This follows a similar promotion where 6,780 pratas were given away after a 7-0 loss to Liverpool in March 2023.
4. Srisun’s owners, who are Manchester United fans, created the offer to cheer up fellow fans.
5. The promotion aims to lighten the mood after a disappointing game result.
My Thoughts
Amusing promotion from this prata stall for years. Man U is still as pundits say not in a good place. But things move fast in football.
Not friends with the prata owner, but I wonder if this is just a marketing gimmick or a hobby enthusiast spurring fellow conversations.
I guess money is not the motivator here. End of day, we assess our lives based on what we love to do or did. What better way to celebrate than to give something in return with the hobby you love.
1. The Premier League plans to replace its current VAR system with the Semi-Assisted Offside Technology (SAOT) using iPhone 15 Pros.
2. SAOT uses 24-28 iPhones to capture high-frame-rate footage, creating a 3D mesh of players with up to 10,000 data points.
3. The system's advanced computer vision and algorithms improve offside detection accuracy and reduce errors.
4. It addresses issues like delays and missed moments in the current VAR system.
5. The new technology aims to enhance officiating quality with faster, more precise offside calls.
My Thoughts
Sad to see VAR is still an issue in EPL football.
Being a tech enthusiast, I'm a strong supporter on using tech to improve the beautiful game. For every new tech, it takes time to adjust and get accepted by consumers. If done well, it removes subjectivity and provides the fairest calls.
But in the area of sports, I guess it's not so forgiving. Pundits say it has taken too much time, made too many mistakes or the tech is not ready. Let's hope the use of iPhones mitigates the errors.
