Tennis-Mind your tongue, Hawkeye is watching

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) Hawkeye is watching at Wimbledon so there's no need to swear.

The introduction of hi-tech cameras to judge disputed line calls on Wimbledon's show courts has helped to curb the tongues of hot-headed players who once turned the air blue with foul-mouthed protests.

Players can now challenge line calls using Hawkeye technology, a multi-camera ball-tracking system invented by Briton Paul Hawkins that boasts pinpoint accuracy.

They are allowed three incorrect challenges per set and the crowds love watching the result on giant video screens, letting out a communal ''ooh-aah'' every time the virtual ball is replayed.

In the first five days of Wimbledon, just three players and all of them men, were fined for the offences of verbal abuse and audible obscenities. None was on Centre or Number One, the show courts where Hawkeye was installed.

A Wimbledon spokesman said: ''It appears it has been having a salutary effect on the players' language. Evidently there is less reason for dispute. The camera never lies.'' Sue Barker, a former French Open winner and now the BBC's chief Wimbledon presenter, said: ''The drama has gone out of it but I am in favour. For the players it has taken out the aggro.

You can't walk off court now blaming a bad call for your defeat.'' Not all the players are in favour.

Roger Federer, bidding for a fifth Wimbledon title, has in the past called Hawkeye ''nonsense'' and argued there were better things to spend money on in tennis.

Former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe, one of the worst culprits in the past, is a Hawkeye supporter.

''Superbrat'' McEnroe set the trend for fruity on-court exchanges in 1981 when he smashed his racket and screamed ''Man, you cannot be serious'' and complained to officials ''You are the pits of the world.'' In 2000, Natasha Zvereva was fined for giving the Wimbledon crowd a one-fingered salute.

Argentine David Nalbandian, enraged by the fervency of British fans supporting local hero Andy Murray, bluntly suggested in Spanish that there were all whores.

The insult may have passed over the heads of many in the crowd but the translation still won him an official reprimand.

British former player Greg Rusedski admitted ''I've used every bad word you can possibly imagine on Centre Court'' when the fine for his outburst worked out at roughly 200 pounds (400.3 dollars) per swearword.

Reuters BJR VV1725