After being successfully implemented at the Next Gen ATP Finals, Video Review will be used by officials at the inaugural ATP Cup, held throughout Australia from 3-12 January.

“The job for officials is to get things right in a match, so here’s another tool for that,” said Gayle David Bradshaw, Executive Vice President, ATP Rules & Competition. “There could be a lot riding on a judgement call. If they make a bad judgement and there’s a clear way to correct it, we’re all for it.”

The Video Review is delivered using Advanced Hawk-Eye technology. Players will be able to challenge judgement calls from the chair umpire such as Not-Ups, Foul Shots, Touches, Invasion, Through and Hindrance.* Each player is limited to three incorrect challenges during a set, but will receive an additional challenge if a set reaches 6-all.

When a reviewable call is challenged, the VR operator uses all available camera angles to find the best view of the incident. They will then send the video to a screen attached to the chair umpire’s chair. If the line review system is unable to make a determination, the chair umpire may review the call for clear evidence that confirms or overturns the call on the court. If there is no clear evidence, then the original decision stands.

Although Bradshaw expects the video review to be used sparingly in matches, he believes it’s a crucial component to ensure that incorrect calls don’t disrupt the flow of a match.

“Last year at Wimbledon, there was a point that a player won twice and ended up losing that point,” Bradshaw explained. “There was a double bounce that wasn’t called and then his opponent actually missed the shot he hit. They’re showing it on the television replays and you can clearly see that it was two bounces. In that case, having Video Review would have solved the whole issue.”

Video Review was in place, but not used by players, at the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals. This past November in Milan, Casper Ruud called for the first-ever Video Review adjudication during his round-robin match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The historic moment took place at 30-all in the opening game, when chair umpire Fergus Murphy stopped the point and declared that Ruud’s lob touched the bottom of the jumbo screen. The Norwegian challenged the call, but the review showed that the call was correct.

Ruud’s challenge was played out in real time to spectators at the Allianz Cloud on a large video board, in addition to fans watching the match on broadcast. Bradshaw believes that using technology to bring fans closer to the action will only help the sport in the future.

“[Umpires are] used to being under pressure, but now the spectators are seeing in real time the same video that the official sees to make the decision. This has huge potential for entertainment value for the fans,” said Bradshaw. “You don’t have that in American football or in soccer stadiums. We’ve taken it to another level in fan engagement.”

In addition to the ATP Cup, Video Review will be used in 2020 at the Next Gen ATP Finals and Nitto ATP Finals.

* Examples of incidents that would be subject to video review at the ATP Cup are:

• Not-Ups – double bounces

• Foul Shots – deliberate double hits or carry; or hitting the ball before it has passed the net; the ball, prior to bouncing, hits a permanent fixture; or the racquet is not in the player’s hand when touched by the ball.

• Touches – ball skimming racquet, clothing or body; or if a player, or anything he is wearing or carrying, touches the net, net posts/singles sticks while the ball is still in play.

• Invasion – when the player, or anything he is wearing or carrying, touches the opponent’s side of the court while the ball is in play.

• Hindrance – decisions on whether a point should be awarded or the point should be replayed. The most common use of this would be a call corrected from out to good and whether the player had a play on the ball.

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies will be part of the German team at the inaugural ATP Cup, to be held from 3-12 January. They will join Alexander Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff and Mats Moraing in Group F in Brisbane.

ATPTour.com caught up with Krawietz and Mies, who successfully transitioned from the ATP Challenger Tour to Roland Garros success and Nitto ATP Finals qualification in 2019.

What are you most looking forward to about the ATP Cup?
Krawietz: It’s great to be a part of the team and the team feeling, travelling around the world and following results of other German players. It’s great that former German players remain involved in the sport, such as Boris Becker, who will be the captain in Brisbane, plus Tommy Haas, Michael Kohlmann. It’s a big thing for us.

Who were your idols growing up? What shot would you like from a compatriot?
Krawietz: Roger Federer was one of the biggest for us, but also Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt for their style of play and personalities. If I could take one shot of a compatriot, it would be the Becker serve. Such power and placement.

Mies: My idol was Becker growing up, but I liked watching Roger, Haas, and the German guys. I’d certainly take the one-handed backhand of Haas, which was so smooth.

What is your favourite thing about Australia?
Mies: I like how relaxed Australia is. I went to Melbourne this year and I felt that the people were very nice. It’s completely different to Germany, where things are strict and people are stressed. Australia is more relaxed.

Krawietz: For me, Australia has great weather and beautiful cities.

Which German player do you find funny?
Krawietz: Struffi is funny, even when he doesn’t try to be. Kohli can have a dry and ironic sense of humour.

Mies: We’re Germans, we don’t joke! No, no, we like to joke around and have a lot of laughs. I once took a German player’s car key, and he was so stressed, looking around non-stop.

What are the things you love most about Germany?
Krawietz: When I come back, I always realise Germany is so structured and organised, that everything is on time. But I also see that people are stressed. I also like the football.

What sports did you play growing up?
Krawietz: I started playing tennis, football and a little bit of basketball, then I had a decision to continue with two sports.

Mies: Growing up, I played a lot of football, that was probably my main hobby until 10-11, when my parents said they couldn’t drive me four times per week for tennis and football. So I had to decide. I tried athletics and swimming too, but I stuck to tennis.

When did you first meet, and subsequently play together?
Krawietz: We met during Futures tournaments together. I was playing junior tournaments, then in 2017, I was looking for a fixed partner, as we were both changing partners a lot. We said let’s try it out.

Mies: I graduated from Auburn University in 2013, with an international business degree, and returned to Germany that summer. We played against each other a few times in doubles, then in December 2013, we played against each other in singles of the German Championships. Kevin won 7-6 in the third set and it still hurts, he was 5-1 up in the third set and I got to 6-5. He smelled the victory and beat me.

We played our first tournament in Meerbusch, a Challenger, and won. I was injured a bit after that for a few months, then we started playing full-time in 2018 and here were are.

How did your life change after you won your the Roland Garros title?
Krawietz: It was a special moment after Roland Garros. The walk from the Halle practice court to the hotel normally takes just a few minutes, but this time it took 30 minutes because we were signing so many autographs. We were very grateful and humbled. We helped conduct the singles draw and there were 200 people watching us. It was a great feeling.

Mies: Life has changed since then for sure, playing smaller events and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was a big surprise, even for us. There was a lot of attention all of a sudden, as it was 82 years since the last all-German pair (Gottfried Von Cramm and Henner Henkel) won a Grand Slam championship in 1937. There was so much attention in the first few weeks and we didn’t sleep very much the first few days as our phones were going off so much. Going to Halle and having so much attention, we weren’t used to it.