THE US Open had to stop multiple games due to a fire alarm which then affected the Hawk-eye system on Labor Day Monday.
Three tennis matches were suspended for numerous minutes at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York.
On Monday afternoon, with several US Open matches occurring, a fire alarm went off in the broadcast building that houses the tournament’s automated line calling system, called “Hawk-eye.”
There are no human line judges on any of the New York courts.
ESPN’s broadcast revealed that the building was evacuated and the system shut down, which led to chair umpires suspending play.
The delay took six minutes for Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium, and other courts.
Officials then told the chair umpires to resume play.
The USTA shared a short statement that read, “Following the determination that it was only an alarm, play was resumed.”
The delay took place during Daniil Medvedev’s fourth-round showdown with Nuno Borges on Arthur Ashe.
Both players were seen standing around in confusion over the incident.
“Ladies and gentlemen, due to a technical difficulty with the line-calling system, we have paused the match,” the fans were informed in an announcement.
The situation happened in the third set.
The match continued and Medvedev would still go on to claim the quarterfinals victory, 6-0 6-1 6-3.
The suspension took place midway through Caroline Wozniacki and the No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia’s match on the Louis Armstrong court.
Haddad Maia ended up with the win, 6-2 3-6 6-3.
The Hawk-eye replaced human officials at the US Open in 2022.
All tennis majors except the French Open use the system.
It’s not known if the US Open has human line judges ready to work in case the Hawk-eye breaks down entirely.
Fans shared their thoughts on the suspended play due to the fire alarm on X.
“Tennis is never boring. Every day something wild happens,” one commented.
“Is there a more unserious sport? There’s always something,” another added.
“Hawkeye has become sentient,” a third wrote.
