Alison Hughes

Alison Hughes (; born 1971/1972) is a British tennis umpire who has umpired in multiple women's Grand Slam tennis finals, as well as in the Davis Cup, Fed Cup and at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. She attended Ponteland High School in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Personal life
Lang was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. She represented Northumberland in U-18s tennis competitions. She currently lives in Warsash, Hampshire.

Umpiring career
Lang began umpiring in 1991, when she began umpiring junior matches in North East England. In 1993, Lang made her umpiring debut at Wimbledon. Lang has umpired the finals of all the Grand slam tournaments; in 2015, she umpired the women's singles finals at Wimbledon for the sixth time. Lang was an umpire at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, and has also umpired Davis Cup and Fed Cup matches. Lang has been awarded the International Tennis Federation Gold Badge status, the highest status for a tennis umpire, and in 2011, Lang was named the Lawn Tennis Association's Official of the Year.

Whilst umpiring the 2015 Australian Open women's final between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, Hughes invoked the "hindrance rule" against Williams for shouting "C'mon" just as Sharapova was trying to return the ball. In the same year, Hughes umpired the Fed Cup final between the Czech Republic and Russia. It was her twelfth Fed Cup final, and she was part of the first ever all-female officiating team at a Fed Cup final. In 2016, Hughes umpired a US Open match between Marcos Baghdatis and Gaël Monfils, and gave Baghdatis a formal warning for using his mobile phone during the changeover time. Hughes umpired the men's final of the 2018 US Open between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro. During the match, she gave Djokovic a code violation warning for exceeding the shot clock.

References

Category:1970s births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Newcastle upon Tyne
Category:Tennis umpires
Category:Women tennis umpires
Category:British women referees and umpires