"I am in favor of the human factor, but tennis will increasingly depend on technology"

Fernando Murciego | 28 Nov 2024 | 23.00

Marija Čičak, chair umpire, shares her story and gives her opinion on the circuit. Source: Getty

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It is always interesting to hear from a chair umpire off the court, mostly due to the difficulty of convincing the ITF to sit down and chat with a journalist. This time, the colleagues from Sportklub achieved the goal and with one of the most relevant figures, the Croatian Marija Čičak. Holder of the gold badge for years - the highest rank a chair umpire can receive - we are facing the first woman in history to officiate a men's final at Wimbledon, among many other milestones. A legend in officiating whom we will get to know a little more in depth today through her story and experience on the circuit.

Becoming a chair umpire

"It wasn't exactly my dream, for me it was more like a hobby, that's how I saw it back then. The day I had to officiate the Wimbledon men's final, it was still a hobby, nothing changed. It's not that I don't take this job seriously, but I never judged it as a job either. I suppose I have a different definition of 'work' in my head, although after a long time I came to the conclusion that officiating is my thing."

Early days in the profession

"The first step is passing the national level umpire exam. With that badge, you can only officiate at home, so the second step is the white badge, for which the ITF organizes four-day camps. The next step is the bronze badge, representing the first international recognition. Then you progress based on merit: the number of matches you officiate, which matches you are assigned at WTA, ATP, ITF, and the Grand Slams. Although the ITF and the Grand Slams operate as one organization, they actually function separately in terms of officiating."

Qualities to excel in the profession

"First and foremost, you must handle stress well. You need to have good vision, of course, in addition to learning to communicate effectively with players and the people around you at tournaments. Even though you are alone in the chair, you still belong to and represent a specific group. You have to start from the fact that we are all human, we all make mistakes at work, a commentator can mispronounce a name or a journalist can offer incorrect information. In my case, I go into each match with the intention of giving 100%, of being precise, but sometimes you fail and you have to apologize."

Interactions with players

"I allow players to swear or shout at times, especially if it happens for the first time and is not directed at anyone. As long as everything stays at a conversational level, it's fine. Sometimes players know they will receive a verbal warning, so they break the racket to vent and release their frustrations, some even start playing better afterward. I have no complaints about this, to a certain extent, I can understand them. When I step onto a court, my mindset is to officiate player A and player B, I don't care where they come from or what their names are, I just focus on pronouncing their last names correctly and giving my best from the chair."

Impact of technology

"I am in favor of incorporating the human factor, although we all know that we will increasingly depend on technology in tennis. It's not a matter of whether I like it or not, because in the end I don't decide the direction we are heading, that's not under my control."

What's next?

"The logical path is to become a tournament supervisor [...] Many times I have been asked if I would like to take this step, to which I always responded with a resounding 'no'. However, now I am not so sure, because ultimately what interests me is to perform well in any role, and it would certainly be a challenge. You don't need to be a good umpire in addition to being a good supervisor, but maybe I will end up taking on this role sooner rather than later."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, “Soy partidaria del factor humano, pero el tenis dependerá cada vez más de la tecnología”