He was wrong, just, but was clearly so impressed that he forecasts the system will eventually not only do away with the need for line judges but also umpires.
McEnroe also feels that over-use of the system will ruin the flow of a match and could be invoked by players seeking a breather. At the age of 46, McEnroe was unable to resist the Hawk-Eye challenge, invoking the electronics wizard’s judgement in the very first game of the one hour 24 minute match on a Courier forehand he claimed was wide. The price was a heavy one as Ljubicic took control of a scrappy tie-break.He banged down an ace to seal it 7-5, and from then on it was comfortable for the Croatian pair, who have never lost a Davis Cup doubles.Hrbaty dropped serve twice in a one-sided second set and the Croatian pair, roared on by a vociferous army of travelling fans, held their nerve to edge the third in another tie-break.. Here’s a hot contender for sports quote of the year: “I hate to say this, but the linesman did a great job today” – John McEnroe. Mac the Mouth’s magnanimity came at the end of a classic semi-final in the Senior Masters at the Royal Albert Hall, in which McEnroe lost 6-4 6-4 to defending champion Jim Courier and also had to bow the knee to Hawk-Eye, the automatic line-calling system which was being used for the first time in an official men’s tournament.

Croatia moved to within one victory of winning their first Davis Cup title here yesterday when Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic teamed up to beat the Slovakian duo Dominik Hrbaty and Michal Mertinak 7-6 6-3 7-6. The scrappy doubles win put Croatia 2-1 ahead in the best-of-five final, and they will be crowned champions if either Ljubicic or Ancic win their reverse singles on Sunday in the Sibamac Arena.
After Friday’s singles were split, the doubles rubber took on added importance for the two Central European nations, who are both appearing in their first final.Slovakia had their chances, particularly in the first set when Mertinak served for it at 5-4, but they failed to seize the moment. Joe Worsley is set to return to full training next week after missing England’s autumn Test matches. With Lewis Moody serving a nine-week ban following his dismissal against Samoa last weekend, the 28-year-old flanker has a chance to complete his recovery from a knee injury and reclaim his place for the Six Nations opener against Wales on 4 February.. He will dummy and break himself because he is very quick, but with England he needs more solutions with runners outside him.”When the back line was changed for Samoa, Hodgson commented about how that added to the difficulties. Lydon says even that is fine by him and Robinson.”The statement itself shows that he is able to critique his own game and the rest of the team with authority. Andy would rather have the players say what they feel rather than shy away from it.”Charlie’s performances in this series were as good as anybody’s in the attack I’m pleased with that, and he should be as well.”.

He’s also a world-class kicker, so he’s showed he can keep the No 10 jersey for England for a long, long time.”Lydon does not pretend that England’s attack is anything like proficient enough, and Saint-Andr?rgues there is more to come from Hodgson if the formation outside him is sorted out.”Against the All Blacks he was the only guy in the backs who passed the ball, and of course it’s harder to make breaks when it’s easy to read. “He’s spent time in the gym, he’s a lot more solid and can both give and take the physicality of the game much better.”Charlie deserved a pat on the back for what he did against the All Blacks, taking the physical abuse and the verbal bits that came with it, because they targeted him verbally and physically to try to put him off his game.”Hodgson’s 20 points against Samoa included his fifth try in 22 Tests (Wilkinson has five in 52) and steered him towards the man-of-the-match award. No one in the crowd quibbled, and he is fast becoming Twickenham’s darling Popular within the squad, too. “He does train and play with a smile on his face,” said Lydon. “He’s got a great sense of humour, especially with [the wing] Mark Cueto. Their one-liners with each other are superb.”Cueto was another man of Sale to be given the week off by Saint-Andr?whose team won their opening Heineken Cup ties in October at home to Munster and away to Newport-Gwent Dragons, and will be on top of the Premiership on Christmas Day (there are no fixtures until Boxing Day).”As a fly-half, you need to play a lot of top-quality games, and that’s what Charlie has done with Sale and England,” said Saint-Andr?”We know he’s very skilful, but he’s improved a lot in the last 18 or 19 months in his defence, his game understanding and how to win different types of games He doesn’t panic.

And I thought, ‘Good on you, Charlie, that’s what you’re there for’.”If that’s the brain sorted out, how about the brawn? Hodgson did the splits making a tackle in the 26-16 win over Australia and went off after 60 minutes. The ice he might have put in a drink to celebrate his 25th birthday that day was applied to a sore groin. But he endured the full 80 minutes of the subsequent four-point defeat by New Zealand like some gruesome variation on a circus clown, by turns battered to the floor, picking himself up to kick a goal or call a move, then battered to the floor again.”We asked him to go away and develop physically after the Six Nations last season and he’s done it,” Lydon revealed. “I don’t think Charlie expected to go but it did him the world of good.

He came back thinking he was right up there, both in terms of the opposition and among his peers. He seems more comfortable with himself as a leader on the field rather than a follower.”He’s started to speak his mind. In the past, if he didn’t agree with something he’d probably keep it quiet, trying to please everybody. Now if I say something or another player does, he’ll stamp his mark and say, ‘No, we’re doing this’.”We were going to change something the day before the Samoa game – another player suggested we change a particular strike move – and Charlie said bluntly, ‘No, we’re not changing it, we’ve not prepared for it, I don’t want to do it that way, we’ll do it this way’. “He is the foremost fly-half in the British Isles,” said Andy Robinson, the head coach, after the concluding win over Samoa.And last week England’s backs coach, Joe Lydon, provided some insightful detail on where Hodgson went right, while Wilkinson’s absence from the international arena stretched to two years.”The Lions tour in the summer was the key to it,” said Lydon. The front row look tired, and everywhere the cupboard appears bare You have only to look at the half-backs.