'Look me in the eyes!' - Pierre-Hugues Herbert's fierce umpire exchange sparks French Open electronic line call debate

Home qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert embroiled himself in a fiery exchange with a chair umpire which caused debate in the TNT Sports studio over having no electronic line-calling system at the French Open.

The controversial moment came in the deciding set between Herbert and Lorenzo Sonego - a crucial moment with Sonego on break point at Roland-Garros.

The Italian ran on to a forehand, which he looped cross court, and Herbert - under the assumption it landed wide - rather feathered a ball back which Sonego stroked down the line.

Herbert nonchalantly strolled towards where the ball landed, as the chair umpire joined him to look at the markings in the clay.

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With three hours and 33 minutes on the match clock, Herbert received the news he seemingly was never expecting - as the umpire confirmed the ball landed in, and the French qualifier went 2-0 behind in the fifth set.

The 35-year-old was wildly animated as he gestured towards the marking, holding his hands on his head, before making his way to the net and shouting his frustrations over the other side.

He was heard shouting "no" as the chair umpire tried to explain his reasoning, and wagged his finger, before he could finally find the words to verbalise his fury.

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"Look me in the eyes," he implored. "You are going to see it, it’s going to be out, and you are really… If you don’t say sorry after that one, I will never speak to you again."

Herbert would put the deciding setback on serve, when, with Sonego serving for the match, he dispatched his third break-point opportunity. But he immediately succumbed to a break to 15 which sealed his first-round exit.

The French Open is the only Grand Slam to retain line judges, rather than the electronic line-calling system - and TNT Sports expert Anne Keothavong has been enjoying a return to the traditional set-up.

"I found it quite refreshing yesterday, seeing chair umpires get off their chair and seeing the line judges on the court," Keothavong said. "We haven't seen it since this event 12 months ago.

"For those of us who enjoy a bit of tradition, it's good to see it happening. Good to see umpires getting a workout as well during the matches.

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"For the players, a little odd. They have become accustomed to the electronic line calls. We can debate how accurate it is, but it's a level playing field.

"There's no argument. It's in or it's out. You can argue, but the machine will tell you what it is. So it's different. It probably takes getting used to again for players, questioning line calls, stopping play as well, if they think the ball has landed out in the middle of the point they can stop.

"Nothing, by the sounds of it, is going to change here. It's good to have a little drama once in a while."

Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the French Open

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Tim Henman, however, feels technological advancements are there to be used, arguing using clay markings to make big decisions is not always the clearest measure.

"If we've got the technology, we should use it," Henman said. "It's been a huge success on all other surfaces.

"It still brings up a little bit of debate, because the umpire will go and see the ball mark which isn't particularly clear. Sometimes TV channels will have the electronic line calling, the Hawkeye ball mark, and sometimes they disagree.

"I'm a traditionalist, but having said that, I think electronic line calling is the way.

"You don't want a match being decided by a bad line call - or a call that's been challenged."

TNT Sports is providing live text coverage of every day at the French Open. Click here to follow along.

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TNT Sports is the exclusive French Open broadcaster in the UK and Ireland. Coverage of every court will be available to stream live on HBO Max.

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