In its debut at the Nasdaq-100 Open, the Hawkeye challenge system has been the talk of the tournament. When the chair umpire acknowledges “Player challenges the call” fans cheer and attentively watch the monitor gasping at the outcome. While Andy waited until his third round match against Simon Greul to employ his first challenge, not all players have been as patient.

During the first 50 matches at the Nasdaq-100 Open, players have challenged line calls 147 times, of which they were successful on 49 calls. From statistics provided by the tournament, the men have a slight edge over the women for successful challenges. On the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour the women have challenged 72 times, 20 successfully. The ATP men’s tour has tallied 75 challenges, 29 successful.

All week Andy shared his enthusiasm for the challenge system. “I think it’s great. You know, I think it’s great for TV. I think it leaves you with a feeling that you’re not getting the short end of it. Basically, it helps me selfishly because I can’t just whine about stuff, ” Andy told reporters earlier this week. “Basically, it’s on me whether or not I want to challenge it or not. I think it actually helps me a little bit. Great for the fans. It adds another element to the tennis on TV, to the live tennis.”

Most tennis patrons at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne would agree. Andy joked with Ar.com about what would happen if he challenged a shot hit into the net. “Do you think they have that icon programmed on the on the monitor?….’in’….’out…’net!”