You Didn't Call That Out! Trivia Quiz

Answer: John McEnroe

John McEnroe truly immortalised the phrase "you cannot be serious" which he hurled at many an umpire throughout his career. Later, it was aptly chosen as the title for his autobiography. 1984 was quite an astonishing year for McEnroe winning not only the singles event at Wimbledon but also at the US Open. Furthermore, he reached the final at Roland Garros where he narrowly missed out on the title after a five set match with the Czech, Ivan Lendl.

Answer: David Mercer

The final was a clash between John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. McEnroe coasted to victory winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, and 6-2 to take the title for a second year in a row. David Mercer, who was often heard commentating alongside McEnroe for the BBC, played tennis at the junior level before climbing the ladder to the best view at Centre Court. John Lloyd, Mark Petchey and Andrew Castle all played professional tennis representing Britain.

Answer: Pascal Maria

Pascal Maria is a well known French chair umpire who has officiated in many of the biggest tournaments in world tennis. He had the honour of chairing the spectacular five-set final of Wimbledon in 2008 between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The latter won the match and the championship thus halting Federer's incredible run of wins at Wimbledon.

In 2009 Federer returned to his winning ways on the grass court in another five-set thriller. He beat his American opponent, Andy Roddick, sixteen games to fourteen in the final set. Umpire Pascal Maria also chaired the men's final at the 2009 Australian Open in Melbourne.

Answer: Sweden

Mohamed Lahyani, originally from the African country of Morocco, moved to Sweden as a child. He therefore gained his umpiring experience mostly in Sweden before going on to represent the country as an international chair umpire. Lahyani was often to be seen having a lot of fun with the crowd and also with the players.

He seemed to have a quality that can't really be taught and that is the innate ability to lighten a serious situation. He maintained a good on-court rapport with the players by making jokes and indulging in friendly player-umpire banter.

Answer: Gold

Gold badges are very rarely awarded and cannot be applied for. Once umpires reach the dizzy heights of the silver badge, they will be constantly reviewed by senior officials to see if they deserve the prestigious gold badge. The gold badge really is a ticket to umpire the matches of huge importance.

Answer: 10

There are five line judges on either side of the court and they each have just the one line to monitor. The ten line judges together keep an eye on two baselines, two centre service lines, two horizontal service lines and four tramlines. Before the technology to detect a ball clipping the net during a serve was developed there was another judge sat at the net.

This judge would grip the end of the net and attempt to detect any vibrations (or listen out for a noise) as the ball passes by.

Answer: No

The line judge would have been wrong. John McEnroe would wonder what is new about that! Most of the ball can be out, but if even the slightest part of the line is hit then the ball is good. You can't really blame the line judges for getting these calls wrong as the balls travel at great velocities. At such velocities very close calls become little more than 50/50 guesses.

Answer: Venus Williams

Karolina Sprem took the first set after a tiebreak, 7-6, and also managed to take Venus Williams to a second set tiebreak. It was at this point that the controversial incident occurred. In the early stages of the second tiebreak, the umpire awarded Karolina Sprem a point that she didn't earn.

The situation was thoroughly confusing, the players looked confused but played on and not one of the line judges or court officials told Mr Watts about his error. It hasn't ever really been made clear what that point was given for. Even though this did change the course of the match somewhat, Venus would find herself leading 6-3 in the tiebreak before going on to throw the set and the match away by conceding five points on the trot. Venus was thus defeated in the second round by Sprem, 6-7 and 6-7, and the umpire would not chair another match that tournament.

Answer: Mariana Alves

One of the overrules made by the Portuguese chair umpire, Mariana Alves, was so disgraceful that even the very calm Serena Williams lost her cool. Serena hit a clean backhand down the line and it landed in by about an inch. The line judge on the right far sideline called the ball good but this was astonishingly overruled by the chair.

This call ultimately changed the game as Serena Williams, at the time going for her third US Open singles victory, was afraid to hit close to the lines. Serena Williams crashed out of the tournament after losing to Jennifer Capriati in the final set and the former would have to wait until 2008 to gain her third singles title at the US Open.

The Portuguese chair umpire, Mariana Alves, wasn't given another match to officiate in New York for the rest of the tournament.

Answer: Hawk-Eye

It is said that the quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open between Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati was a catalyst in the process of accepting technology to help make decisions in tennis. If a player isn't happy with the call from a line judge or a correction from the chair umpire, the decision can be challenged. If the player challenges and is right then the call is overturned, if the player is wrong the original decision or the correction from the chair will stand.

When the player is wrong they also lose one of their allocated challenges, which is usually three per set with an additional challenge awarded for a tiebreak.