Wimbledon will follow the US and Aussie Opens in employing replay technology.
Replay systems will make its debut at The Championships this year.
Competitors will gain the option to contest specific calls from the official, mirroring the practice already in use at each of the American Grand Slam and the Australian Open.
This technology will be operational on Centre Court and Court One throughout the tournament and on the remaining featured courts when they are hosting singles matches.
This move follows just a year after the AELTC introduced ELC, which terminated the longstanding role of line judges.
What Can Be Reviewed?
Competitors will not be permitted to challenge the call of the electronic line calling, but they can ask for the official to re-examine specific situations, including:
- If a ball has bounced twice.
- If a ball made contact with an rival's racket or body on the way past.
- Potential hindrance end of a point.
Importantly, there will be no limit on the amount of reviews a competitor can request.
Practical Application
A recent incident took place in a recent tournament last week, where Daniil Medvedev used the video challenge against his opponent.
The British player conceded it was a difficult call for the official, but thought his rival had "played the rules quite well."
Official Aurelie Tourte viewed a video and determined the player was guilty of hindrance, awarding the point to his opponent.
Growing Trend
This technology are not new for Grand Slams. The system was adopted at the US Open since 2023 and the Aussie Open this year.
Additionally, it is becoming more common on the women’s WTA Tour, and by next season the men's ATP Tour plans to have the system implemented at all of its tournaments.
Additional Innovations
A further change at Wimbledon this year will be the addition of graphical cues on scoreboards to support the verbal announcements from the electronic line calling system.
This addresses situations where spectators have sometimes been uncertain if a shot was in or out.
In other news, with precisely 100 days remaining until the beginning of the Championships, the AELTC have also revealed an expansion in daily attendance at the qualifying competition in Roehampton.
