BBC Sport pundits Anne Keothavong and Tracy Austin praise Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s ability to bounce back from being denied a game winning point due to “an operating error” deactivating the automatic line calling system in her fourth round win over Sonay Kartal at Wimbledon 2025.
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Swiss rider Marlen Reusser stormed to victory in the opening stage of the Women’s Giro d’Italia, less than a year after fearing for her career following a bout of long Covid.
The Movistar rider topped the standings with a time of 17 minutes 22 seconds in a 14. 2km individual time trial through Bergamo.
Reusser had her 2024 season decimated and missed the Paris Olympics after being diagnosed with the respiratory condition, which left her “chronically ill”.
“Last spring I was ill for two weeks and just kept getting worse,” Reusser said.
“We couldn’t figure out what was wrong. In June, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, I tried getting back on the bike, but I had a fever that would spike one day and drop the next.
“In August, I was diagnosed with long Covid. I couldn’t believe it and struggled to accept it.
“I was chronically ill. I was scared, because I know there are people who never recover from it. “
The 33-year-old did recover and showed signs of returning to her best in finishing second at the Spanish Vuelta in May.
She has now followed that up by claiming her first stage victory at the Women’s Giro on her third appearance at the Grand Tour.
“Ever since the route was announced I was really excited that the Giro would start with a time trial, and now I’m over the moon,” added Reusser.
“I still can’t quite believe I’ll be wearing the maglia rosa – it’s truly been an amazing day. “
Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky, last year’s runner-up, was 12 seconds adrift in second with 2024 champion Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy also making it on to the podium.
1. Marlen Reusser (Swi/Movistar) 17 mins 22 secs
2. Lotte Kopecky (Bel/SD Worx-Protime) +12secs
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/Team ADQ) +16secs
4. Anna van der Breggen (Ned/SD Worx-Protime) +20secs
5. Lieke Nooijen (Ned/Visma-Lease A Bike) +24secs
6. Anna Henderson (GBR/Lidl-Trek) +27secs
7. Christina Schweinberger (Aut/Fenix-Deceuninck) +30secs
8. Alessia Vigilia (Ita/FDJ-Suez) +40secs
9. Monica Trinca Colonel (Ita/Liv-Alula-Jayco) +41secs
Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser won stage one of the Women’s Giro d’Italia to claim the first maglia rosa jersey.
The Movistar rider topped the standings with a time of 17 minutes 22 seconds in a 14. 2km individual time trial through Bergamo.
It is a first stage win at the Giro for 33-year-old Reusser on her third appearance at the Grand Tour.
Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky, last year’s runner-up, was 12 seconds adrift in second with 2024 champion Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy also making it on to the podium.
“Ever since the route was announced I was really excited that the Giro would start with a time trial, and now I’m over the moon,” said Reusser.
“I still can’t quite believe I’ll be wearing the maglia rosa – it’s truly been an amazing day. “
Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser won stage one of the Women’s Giro d’Italia to claim the first maglia rosa jersey.
The Movistar rider topped the standings with a time of 17 minutes 22 seconds in a 14. 2km individual time trial through Bergamo.
It is a first stage win at the Giro for 33-year-old Reusser on her third appearance at the Grand Tour.
Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky, last year’s runner-up, was 12 seconds adrift in second with 2024 champion Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy also making it on to the podium.
“Ever since the route was announced I was really excited that the Giro would start with a time trial, and now I’m over the moon,” said Reusser.
“I still can’t quite believe I’ll be wearing the maglia rosa – it’s truly been an amazing day. “
Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser won stage one of the Women’s Giro d’Italia to claim the first maglia rosa jersey.
The Movistar rider topped the standings with a time of 17 minutes 22 seconds in a 14. 2km individual time trial through Bergamo.
It is a first stage win at the Giro for 33-year-old Reusser on her third appearance at the Grand Tour.
Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky, last year’s runner-up, was 12 seconds adrift in second with 2024 champion Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy also making it on to the podium.
“Ever since the route was announced I was really excited that the Giro would start with a time trial, and now I’m over the moon,” said Reusser.
“I still can’t quite believe I’ll be wearing the maglia rosa – it’s truly been an amazing day. “
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said a game was ‘stolen’ from her when Wimbledon’s electronic line-calling system failed during her fourth-round match against Britain’s Sonay Kartal.
There was no ‘out’ call when a Kartal backhand went long at 4-4 in the first set, with chair umpire Nico Helwerth shouting “stop, stop” to halt play.
Russian Pavlyuchenkova had seen the ball was out – and a TV replay showed that was the case by some distance.
Addressing the crowd, Helwerth said: “We’re just going to check if the system was up and running, because there was no audio call. “
After a telephone call, he said the electronic system “was unfortunately unable to track the last point so we will replay the point”.
Had the ball been called out, Pavlyuchenkova would have won the point and taken the lead.
A frustrated Pavlyuchenkova was heard telling the umpire at the changeover: “I don’t know if it’s in or out. How do I know? How can you prove it?
“Because she is local they can say whatever. You took the game away from me.
“They stole the game from me. They stole it. “
A spokesperson for the All England Club said: “Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question.
“The chair umpire followed the established process. “
The automated line-calling system, which was introduced at Wimbledon for the first time this year, has been under scrutiny this week, with several players questioning its accuracy and sound level.
Electronic line calling technology has been under scrutiny this week at Wimbledon, with a number of players saying they did not trust it.
Such an obvious failure on the biggest stage – on Centre Court, in a match featuring a British player – has ensured this topic will not go away.
Britain’s Emma Raducanu has been one of those to voice concerns, saying some of the calls had been “dodgy”, while former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic said the technology was a topic of discussion among players in the locker room.
Bencic said she was usually a fan of the technology but “it is not correct” at this tournament.
Line judges have been replaced by technology at many top-level tournaments, including the US Open and Australian Open.
Wimbledon 2025