Wimbledon will follow the American and Australian Opens in employing replay systems.
Video review technology will make its debut at The Championships this year.
Athletes are granted the ability to challenge specific calls from the official, echoing the system already in use at each of the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
The new system will be operational on the main stadium and the number one court for the duration of the Championships and on the remaining show courts when they are staging singles contests.
This move arrives only a season following the All England Club introduced ELC, which effectively ended the centuries-old tradition of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Players cannot to dispute the call of the ELC system, but they can ask for the umpire to re-examine other situations, including:
- Whether a tennis ball has double-bounced.
- Whether a shot made contact with an rival's racket or body on the way past.
- Potential hindrance end of a rally.
Notably, there will be no cap on the number of reviews a competitor can ask for.
A Recent Example
An illustrative example occurred in Indian Wells recently, where Daniil Medvedev used the review system against his opponent.
The British player conceded it was a tough situation for the official, but thought his rival had "played the rules quite well."
Official Aurelie Tourte watched a replay and determined the player was responsible for interference, awarding the point to Medvedev.
Broader Adoption
This technology aren't new for major tournaments. The system was adopted at the American major since 2023 and the Aussie Open this year.
Additionally, it is increasingly prevalent on the women’s WTA Tour, and by the coming year the men's ATP Tour will have video reviews implemented at all of its tournaments.
Additional Innovations
A further innovation at Wimbledon this year involves the introduction of visual indicators on scoreboards to support the audio calls from the ELC system.
This addresses instances where fans have occasionally been unsure whether a shot was in or out.
Finally, with exactly 100 days to go until the beginning of the tournament, organizers have further announced an increase in daily capacity at the qualifying competition in Roehampton.
