Dealing with Bad Line Calls

“Mistakes” are the same as cheating in taxes, but is that true in tennis?

Tax day is upon us again. If you, like myself, have found yourself starting to fill out the1040 form at 1040 p.m. on the night before the deadline, you know that attention to detail can be compromised. Honest mistakes are acceptable in most spheres of life, but not when it comes to our beloved internal revenue service. In that case mistakes are considered cheating.

Is the same thing true in tennis? The guys and girls who play on TV are fortunate not have to make their own line calls. Now, they even have shot spot to make sure there are no mistakes. Cheating in pro tennis might involve performance enhancing drugs, but line calls are not in the equation.

Unfortunately we in the larger tennis community are not strangers to inaccurate line calls. Most of us play by the rules. But everyone has encountered opponents who make performance enhancing line calls.

But unlike errors on your tax return, there is often an acceptable explanation for bad calls. Bad calls can be deliberate cheating. But they can also be honest mistakes.

The pros have shot spot, but…