Jankovic's challenge

In the US Open ladies' tennis semi-final, Jelena Jankovic was having a heated rally with Elena Dementieva in the decisive game of the match. At one point Jankovic stopped and raised her arm to challenge a failure by the line judge to call a Dementieva stroke out. Within 5 seconds, a video replay confirmed that she was absolutely right, and she was awarded the point.

What a wonderful rule! The rally might well have gone on, with the ball having gone out of play and the match officials wrongly allowing play to go on, and the point possibly going to Dementieva. At this crucial point, the wrong decision might well have allowed Dementieva to get back into the match, possibly going on to win it, all on the back of a wrong decision by a bleary-eyed line judge.

This was the best proof, if any were needed, of the fairness of the video replay rule. The players take it upon themselves to "risk" losing one of a limited number of challenge calls available to them, to safeguard their right for a proper line call. Tennis match officials are humble enough to concede that they are only human and therefore fallible, and allow the players, who are those that really stand to gain or lose a lot through their decisions, to verify these not necessarily foolproof decisions. What could be fairer than this?

If only football were just as democratic...