Wimbledon will follow the American and Australian Opens in employing replay technology.
Replay technology are set to arrive at Wimbledon in the upcoming tournament.
Athletes will gain the ability to challenge specific calls made by the official, echoing the system currently in use at both the American Grand Slam and the Australian Open.
The new system will be operational on the main stadium and Court One throughout the Championships and on the remaining featured courts when they are hosting singles contests.
This development follows just a year after the AELTC rolled out ELC, which brought an end to the centuries-old role of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Players will not be permitted to dispute the accuracy of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the umpire to re-examine other decisions, including:
- If a tennis ball has double-bounced.
- If a ball made contact with an rival's racket or body during play.
- Possible interference end of a rally.
Notably, there is no limit on the amount of challenges a player can request.
A Recent Example
An illustrative incident took place in a recent tournament last week, where Daniil Medvedev used the video challenge against his opponent.
Draper admitted it was a tough call for the official, but thought his opponent had "played the rules effectively."
Official Aurelie Tourte viewed a replay and determined the player was responsible for hindrance, granting the rally to his opponent.
Wider Implementation
Video reviews aren't new for Grand Slams. The system has been in use at the American major since 2023 and the Australian Open this year.
Additionally, it is becoming more common on the women’s WTA Tour, and by the coming year the men's ATP Tour plans to have the system in place at all of its tournaments.
Other Changes
A further change at The Championships this year involves the addition of visual indicators on displays to complement the verbal announcements from the electronic line calling system.
This solves instances where spectators have sometimes been uncertain whether a ball was in or out.
In other news, with exactly 100 days to go until the start of the Championships, organizers have also announced an increase in daily attendance at the qualifying competition in Roehampton.
