Controversy with electronic hawk-eye in Madrid: Rybakina shows a bad ball... that was called good
The electronic hawk-eye is once again at the center of controversy. It's not the first time we've seen how, in a clay court tournament, the margin of error of what the cameras capture becomes evident. The latest to experience this was Elena Rybakina, who during her match against Qinwen Zheng at the Mutua Madrid Open 2026 pointed out the mark of a ball that was called in... and proved to the chair umpire, who couldn't do anything, and to the production team, which captured the mark on the clay, that indeed, the ball was out. The Kazakh player couldn't believe it, as she saw the point go to her opponent despite it all.
Elena Rybakina in a disagreement with the umpire in her match against Qinwen Zheng in Madrid.
Qinwen hit a serve that was called in by electronic line calling.
Elena shows the umpire the mark, which is out.
Elena: “Are you kidding me? This is not a joke. The system is wrong.… pic.twitter.com/kIOfxGB19s— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 26, 2026
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Polémica con el ojo de halcón electrónico en Madrid: Rybakina muestra una bola mala... que fue dada como buena