The Hawk-eye electronic line calling system will make it’s big time debut later this month at the Nasdaq 100 tennis tournament. I’m not going to make a big deal about because it’s way overdue. Let’s just get on with it.

Each player will be allowed to challenge two calls each set and one additional call in a tiebreaker. If a challenge is successful, the player keeps that challenge. Two is a good number. Someone would have surely abused the privilege if challenges were unlimited.

Patriotic feelings go deep, you know you won’t get calls in enemy territory.

Look at injury timeouts. Previously, if a player called a trainer onto the court, they were required to forfeit. After watching Shuzo Matsuoka writhe on the court with painful legs cramps for a full five minutes because he didn’t want to summon a trainer and therefore forfeit the match, the ATP and WTA changed the rule to allow one timeout for each unique medical condition. That didn’t stop Novak Djokovic from taking five medical timeouts for a shoulder problem, a breathing problem and cramps in his legs, back and shoulder in the process of beating Gael Monfils in the 2005 U.S. Open. That’s abusing the rules.

I hope like hell that Hawk-eye turns up in Davis Cup too. Patriotic feelings go deep, you know you won’t get calls in enemy territory. Arthur Ashe could have used it in the 1972 Davis Cup final against Ion Tiriac in Bucharest, Romania. With the U.S. up 2-1 and needing one victory to clinch the title, Ashe slogged his way through a match filled with horrifically bad line calls. On one point, Ashe served one of his many aces then heard a delayed call of “foot fault.” From the linesperson on his opponent’s side of the court!!!

Considering the adversity Ashe must have faced being a black man in a white sport, you have to think that Ashe was one of the few tennis players in the world who could have won that match.

Tennis already has electronic line calling systems. There is an electronic system for calling service lets and the Cyclops machine beeps if a serve goes beyond the service line. It’ll be interesting to see if tennis moves towards totally electronic line calling and dispenses with humans altogether. Do you really miss that guy who used to sit on the court and put his finger on top of the net to call let balls?