Ball Mark Inspection (Clay Only)

Overview

A Ball Mark Inspection (BMI) is an event that only happens on clay courts.

They work very similarly to challenges, a BMI happens when a line judge calls a ball and the team/player disagrees. The umpire will then come down to the court and take a look at the mark that the ball made on the clay, and judge if the ball was out or in.

Packet

A BMI will occur at the same time as a challenge - After 'Point Started' and before the 'Point' packet.

It does not include information on if it was 'won' or 'lost' - just that there was a BMI. The next point is always the outcome of the BMI (who the point is awarded to).

An example from the French Open, 2024:

• Ball Mark Inspection JSON

{
  "timestamp": "2022-06-05T14:05:36.296Z",
  "eventElementType": "MatchStatusUpdate",
  "matchTime": "00:53:15",
  "seqNum": 172,
  "matchStatus": {
    "umpireCountry": "Unknown",
    "umpire": "Unknown",
    "teamAPlayer1": "R. NADAL",
    "tossChooser": "Serve",
    "matchState": {
      "state": "BallMarkInspection"
    },
    "teamBPlayer1": "C. RUUD",
    "numSets": 5,
    "scoringType": "Standard",
    "firstServer": "TeamA",
    "tossWinner": "TeamA",
    "courtNum": 1,
    "teamAPlayersDetails": {
      "player1Id": "N409",
      "player1Country": "ESP"
    },
    "teamBPlayersDetails": {
      "player1Id": "RH16",
      "player1Country": "NOR"
    },
    "umpireCode": "Unknown",
    "tieBreakType": "TieBreakInFinalSet"
  }
}

Followed by an "inProgress packet to indicate that the BMI is being carried out:

{
  "timestamp": "2022-06-05T14:05:45.898Z",
  "eventElementType": "MatchStatusUpdate",
  "matchTime": "00:53:25",
  "seqNum": 173,
  "matchStatus": {
    "umpireCountry": "Unknown",
    "umpire": "Unknown",
    "teamAPlayer1": "R. NADAL",
    "tossChooser": "Serve",
    "matchState": {
      "state": "InProgress"
    },
    "teamBPlayer1": "C. RUUD",
    "numSets": 5,
    "scoringType": "Standard",
    "firstServer": "TeamA",
    "tossWinner": "TeamA",
    "courtNum": 1,
    "teamAPlayersDetails": {
      "player1Id": "N409",
      "player1Country": "ESP"
    },
    "teamBPlayersDetails": {
      "player1Id": "RH16",
      "player1Country": "NOR"
    },
    "umpireCode": "Unknown",
    "tieBreakType": "TieBreakInFinalSet"
  }
}