Tennis rule changed

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33869, 14 June 1975, Page 16

Tennis rule changed

(A'.Z P.A.Reuter—Copyright) LONDON.

Tennis players competing in British tournaments will still be firmly under the control of match umpires and will not be allowed to influence the official’s decisions. This was made clear at yesterday's council meeting of the British Lawn Tennis Association.

‘ But umpires are to carry lout, as an experiment, a sigInificant change of rule which will give them the power to overrule a linesman if they believe a mistake has been made. They will have the right to change a call, or order a point, to be replayed. “We are happy with the decision. The Bournemouth incidents are now behind us,” Ted Frith, president of the British Umpires Association, said. It was a series of disputed decisions last month during the British hard court championships at Bournemouth which led to the disqualification of Hie Nastase, ofi Rumania. Roger Taylor, of; Britain, also walked off the; court following an incident) with a linesman.

The championship committee at Bournemouth then instructed umpires that if both players agreed that a linesman’s call was wrong, the umpire must accept their verdict.

The emergency committee of the International Lawm Tennis Federation is expected to agree to the British change of rule before the French championships end in