This weekend’s matchup in Winston-Salem between the U.S. and France is missing two of the technological advances top tennis pros and fans have come to expect: The video replay system to challenge line calls is not here, nor is the radar gun clocking the speed of serves.

The radar gun I’m fine without. It has no impact. We all know they hit the ball hard, but what really matters in tennis is the placement and spin and whether the server won the point or not.

I’m also agreeable to not using the replay system, although there have been several calls it would have been useful to verify. My problem with the replay is that it is not consistently utilized. If they are going to use it for Davis Cup finals, as the USTA did in Portland, they should use it here. If the top-ranked players on the Ashe Court at the U.S. Open can have it, so should the lower-ranked competitors on court eleven. Every player in every tournament should get the same treatment.

The question I can’t answer is why they don’t have it this weekend. I know that McEnroe last year was unhappy with an ITF rule that said players get unlimited challenges when the system is available. Maybe he didn’t want it? The disagreement over the replay system resulted in it not being installed when the U.S. played Spain here last year, but the ITF insisted it be used in Portland, ESPN’s Bonnie Ford wrote in October. Another possibility is that the system is expensive, and the event has not sold out, with only about 10,000 of the Joel Coliseum’s 14,000-capacity being used.

I can’t find any explanation online, and I’m not going to the press conferences. I’m sure it has been discussed on television. Please put a response in the comments field if you know why they don’t have it. One blogger (not me, mind you) suggests that the championship rings be melted down and sold to pay for the replay.