Replacing line judges will spoil Wimbledon, says official

Replacing line judges with live electronic calls will kill the ‘romance’ of Wimbledon, says an official who had an infamous run-in with John McEnroe.

Linesman Raghbir Singh Mhajan stood up to the American after being accused of bias – and said yesterday that the American had behaved like a ‘spoiled brat’.

The 1981 championships were famous for McEnroe’s much-parodied fury over a line call which went against him. He furiously screamed at umpire Edward James: ‘You cannot be serious.’

While Hawkeye was introduced to SW19 in 2007, allowing players to challenge calls, line judges have remained until now.

But on Wednesday it was announced that next year’s championships will see them replaced with electronic monitors. Mr Mhajan says the decision will spoil the 147-year-old tournament.

Speaking from his home in West London, surrounded by mementos from his career, the 89-year-old told The Mail on Sunday: ‘What can you do? If the players are happy with this decision, one has to go with what they want.

‘It is sad for the line judges after 140 years not to be there any more. It was something unique, I think.

‘Unfortunately it will not be the same without them, replacing them with computers or Hawk Eye or technology. It will lose some of its romance because the court will be virtually empty. To me, Wimbledon is the top tournament in tennis – it’s where every player wants to play.

‘And the line judges were part of that, part of the tradition and the atmosphere, with their uniforms and discipline. But the most important thing is the players. They need to be happy.’

Mr Mhajan said he drew McEnroe’s ire on several occasions, but his memory of his 1981 clash was still crystal clear. It came during a doubles match in the quarter-finals against Indian brothers Vijay and Anand Amritraj.

Mr Mhajan, who made history

as the first Sikh line judge at Wimbledon in 1973, said: ‘McEnroe said to me: “You are cheating, you are Indian.” He and Fleming were playing the Amritraj brothers, I was line judge and I was wearing my turban.

‘So I said to him calmly: “John, I am not Indian, I am Kenyan. I am from Kenya.”

‘I had a lot of respect from all the other players because they found me fair. But McEnroe, unfortunately he was just a spoiled brat.’