Wimbledon will follow the American and Australian Opens in employing video review technology.
Replay systems will be launched at Wimbledon in the upcoming tournament.
Competitors are granted the ability to contest particular calls from the official, following the protocol already in place at both the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
This technology is slated for use on Centre Court and Court One for the duration of the tournament and on the remaining show courts when they are staging singles contests.
This development comes just a year after the All England Club implemented ELC, which brought an end to the longstanding role of line judges.
Reviewable Decisions
Competitors will not be permitted to dispute the call of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the umpire to re-examine specific decisions, such as:
- Whether a ball has double-bounced.
- If a ball touched an rival's racket or person during play.
- Possible interference at the conclusion of a point.
Notably, there will be no limit on the amount of reviews a player can initiate.
Practical Application
An illustrative incident took place in Indian Wells last week, where a top player used the video challenge against Jack Draper.
Draper conceded it was a difficult situation for the umpire, but believed his opponent had "played the rules effectively."
Official Aurelie Tourte viewed a replay and determined the player was guilty of interference, granting the point to his opponent.
Growing Trend
This technology are not exclusive to major tournaments. It has been in use at the American major for two years and the Australian Open this year.
Furthermore, it is becoming more common on the WTA circuit, and by the coming year the ATP circuit plans to have the system in place at all of its tournaments.
Additional Innovations
A further innovation at The Championships 2025 involves the addition of visual indicators on scoreboards to support the audio calls from the ELC system.
This addresses situations where the crowd have sometimes been unsure if a ball was out or in.
In other news, with precisely a century of days to go until the beginning of the Championships, organizers have also revealed an increase in daily attendance at the qualifiers in Roehampton.
