Wimbledon will follow the US and Aussie Opens in employing replay systems.
Replay systems will make its debut at The Championships for the 2025 edition.
Athletes are granted the option to contest certain calls made by the chair umpire, mirroring the system currently in use at each of the US Open and the Aussie major.
The new system will be operational on Centre Court and the number one court throughout the Championships and on the remaining featured courts when they are hosting singles contests.
This move arrives only a season following the AELTC implemented ELC, which effectively ended the longstanding tradition of line judges.
Reviewable Decisions
Competitors will not be permitted to dispute the accuracy of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the umpire to re-examine other situations, such as:
- Whether a tennis ball has bounced twice.
- Whether a ball touched an opponent's racquet or person during play.
- Potential hindrance end of a point.
Notably, there is no limit on the number of reviews a competitor can ask for.
A Recent Example
An illustrative example occurred in a recent tournament last week, where Daniil Medvedev used the video challenge against Jack Draper.
The British player admitted it was a difficult call for the official, but thought his rival had "used the regulations quite well."
The umpire watched a replay and ruled Draper was responsible for hindrance, granting the rally to Medvedev.
Growing Trend
This technology are not exclusive to major tournaments. It has been in use at the US Open since 2023 and the Australian Open this year.
Additionally, it is increasingly prevalent 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
Another change at Wimbledon this year will be the introduction of graphical cues on scoreboards to complement the audio calls from the electronic line calling system.
This addresses instances where the crowd have sometimes been unsure if a ball was out or in.
In other news, with exactly a century of days to go until the beginning of the tournament, the AELTC have also revealed an expansion in daily attendance at the qualifying competition in Roehampton.
