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Lahaina, HI — Focused on improving visibility during sports, Maui Jim, the fastest growing manufacturer of premium polarized sunglasses, once again provided eyewear for use by the line judges at this past week’s Valencia 500 Open 2012 tennis tournament in Spain. This is the second year that Maui Jim has provided eyewear for the indoor event; and the first year that the company has sponsored the use of Hawkeye to improve judgment accuracy.

The use of Maui Jim sunglasses by line judges resulted from positive feedback by 2011 judges when many of them wore the company’s sunglasses on-court. This year, most judges were quick to avail themselves of the technological advantages of Maui Jim sunglasses to improve their work. Only Maui Jim sunglasses use PolarizedPlus2® lens technology to cut 99.9 percent of glare and eliminate all UV rays while enhancing color and sharpening definition. During the tournament, statistics indicated that line judges were correct on nearly 75 percent of the occasions when a player called for Hawkeye to confirm if the balls were in or out.

During the Valencia 500 Open 2012, players made a total of 148 challenges, with the player being right on 39 occasions and the line judges on the other 109 (75 percent of the time). Challenges took place in 76 sets of 24 matches. David Ferrer (nicknamed “Ferru”), the tournament champion and brand ambassador for the Hawaiian sunglasses brand, called for Hawkeye on three occasions in his final match against Alexandr Dolgopolov, though none of them benefited him because the line judges were right on every count. Ferrer was the player who made the most challenges during the tournament, with a total of nine in singles matches (two won, seven lost) and three in doubles (all lost).

Ever since it was first officially used in 2007, Hawkeye has become the most helpful piece of technology for line judges when it comes to their influence on the game. This was demonstrated once again in that the error factor of 26.35 percent did not have a negative impact on the players or, consequently, the final result. The Hawkeye system is based on the triangulation system of calculation using visual images and time measurements provided by high-speed video cameras. This information is processed by a high-speed processor which recognizes the images of the tennis ball and calculates its trajectory. To do so, it needs a model of the playing area, the position of the cameras and the focal point. The result is that it can calculate the position of the ball in 3D for every image.

Maui Jim also held a drawing on its Facebook page, “Another way of watching tennis,” whereby the participant who correctly guessed, or got nearest to, the number of challenges that players would make during the Valencia Open 500 could win a trip and tickets for two people to the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in London. The winner was Jesús Gomis Montoya from Menorca.

A Brilliant View for Our Worldwide Tennis Ambassadors

David Ferrer is not the first tennis player to see life in clear, brighter colors thanks to Maui Jim sunglasses. Other players who sport Maui Jim include French player Gaël Monfils, German player Sabine Lisicki, British player Oliver Golding, and noted Australian tennis coach, Roger Rasheed.

For more information on Maui Jim, visit MauiJim.com or follow the company on Facebook and Twitter at @OfficialMauiJim.