PERHAPS it was the sight of Tim Henman almost winning a match that got them overexcited. Perhaps they just got too involved.

After a crucial line call in a semi-final of the Stella Artois tournament, an embattled Henman apparently looked away from the umpire up to the BBC commentary box for guidance — and got it.

Henman was leading Lleyton Hewitt 2-1 in the final set on Saturday and was within a point of taking the fourth game to deuce on his serve when he struck a shot that was called “good” by the base linesman.

Hewitt screamed in protest. A split-second later, the linesman reversed his decision. Emmanuel Messina, the umpire, upheld the delayed call but Henman, riled, looked up to the BBC box where Chris Bailey and John Lloyd, two close acquaintances, were commentating. Lloyd, the former British No 1 and Davis Cup coach, is believed to have signalled that the call was wrong: the ball had touched the back of the line.

This prompted Henman to demand to see Thomas Karlberg, the match supervisor, but the latter said he could do nothing to influence line calling.

“Are you saying they (the commentators) are lying to me?” Henman asked, but to no avail. He lost the point, the game and the following four games to lose the match.

Television pundits with their slow-motion replays are accustomed to sitting in judgment on umpire calls, but with Wimbledon only one week away the ATP, the governing body for men’s tennis, is worried that commentators may have begun broadcasting their decisions to the court. The BBC is holding an investigation.

Henman said later that the line calling had been appalling, adding: “There were probably seven or eight calls that were mistakes and it’s difficult to play when you lose all confidence. In all honesty, I can’t say that I dealt with it very well.”

The debate over the extent to which video evidence should be used in sport has raged for years, but tennis pundits have never offered their opinions to players as the game unfolded on court.

Paul Davies, executive producer of BBC tennis and the man in charge of Wimbledon coverage, said yesterday: “This example has taken the debate about line calls to another level, and because of the number of contentious calls in the Henman match it has raised the question, ‘If Tim or any player looks at the commentary box, what do we do?’

“In theory, we should not respond because it can escalate what is already a contentious situation. I suppose with Tim it is different because the people in the box are his mates who happen to have access to technological evidence. Most other players may not even look up to the box.

“But we have a serious issue to deal with and we shall be debating it this week. Who is to say how what we may do affects any player? My belief is that we should not be putting ourselves in a position which could be tantamount to be playing tennis God.”

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