Pavlyuchenkova knocks out home hope Kartal amid bizarre line-call controversy

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Sonay Kartal 7-6 (3), 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

The Russian came through against the rising home hope despite a bizarre incident at 4-4 in the first set when hawk-eye failed to call one of Kartal’s shots out after it had clearly sailed long.

Pavlyuchenkova was understandably rattled by the call, as chair umpire  Nico Helwerth decided that replaying the point would be the best course of action despite replays showing that Kartal’s ball was so evidently out.

Kartal went on the win the point and break for a 5-4 lead.

Ultimately, it did not affect the outcome. But another puzzling error from Electronic Line Calling leaves the integrity of this system in yet further disarray after several players complained about what they viewed to be erroneous line calls.

“The chair umpire followed the established process.”

“I don’t know if it’s in or out. How do I know? How can you prove it?” Pavlyuchenkova was heard saying to the chair umpire.

“Because she is local they can say whatever. You took the game away from me.

“They stole the game from me. They stole it.”

A Wimbledon spokesperson said after the match, “Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question.

“The chair umpire followed the established process.”

After falling a break behind, the Russian then broke back at the death to send the first set into a tiebreak which she was able to win.

The second set was a more straightforward affair, as Pavlyuchenkova was able to convert a crucial break early on to see out an impressive win on Centre Court.

Pavlyuchenkova, ranked No 50, will play the winner of the match between No 30 seed Linda Noskova and American Amanda Anisimova, the No 13 seed, next.

The 34-year-old Russian won against Japanese Naomi Osaka (3-6, 6-4, 6-4), American Ashlyn Krueger, the No 31 seed (7-6 (4), 6-4) and Australian Ajla Tomljanovic (4-6, 6-3, 6-2) ahead of her victory.

In the previous rounds of The Championships, Kartal, ranked No 51, beat French qualifier Diane Parry (6-4, 6-2), Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova (6-2, 6-2) and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the No 20 seed (7-5, 2-6, 6-2).

London (Grand Slam), other last-16 results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 53.500.000, most recent results first):

• Iga Swiatek vs. Clara Tauson
• Mirra Andreeva vs. Emma Navarro
• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Belinda Bencic
• Linda Noskova vs. Amanda Anisimova
• Aryna Sabalenka vs. Elise Mertens
• Solana Sierra vs. Laura Siegemund