The tournament joins the American and Australian Opens in utilizing replay technology.
Replay systems will be launched at Wimbledon for the 2025 edition.
Competitors are granted the ability to question specific rulings from the official, echoing the system already in place at both the American Grand Slam and the Australian Open.
This innovation is slated for use on Centre Court and the number one court throughout the Championships and on the remaining featured courts when they are staging singles contests.
This development arrives only a year after the All England Club rolled out electronic line calling, which effectively ended the 147-year tradition of line judges.
What Can Be Reviewed?
Players cannot to challenge the call of the electronic line calling, but they can request the umpire to re-examine other decisions, such as:
- If a ball has bounced twice.
- If a ball touched an opponent's racquet or person during play.
- Possible interference at the conclusion of a point.
Importantly, there is no cap on the amount of challenges a player can ask for.
Practical Application
An illustrative incident occurred in Indian Wells recently, where a top player initiated the video challenge against his opponent.
Draper admitted it was a tough call for the official, but thought his rival had "played the rules quite well."
The umpire watched a video and ruled the player was guilty of hindrance, awarding the point to his opponent.
Wider Implementation
Video reviews are not exclusive to major tournaments. It has been in use at the US Open since 2023 and the Australian Open this year.
Furthermore, it is becoming more common on the women’s WTA Tour, and by the coming year the ATP circuit will have video reviews in place at all of its tournaments.
Further Updates
A further innovation at Wimbledon this year will be the introduction of graphical cues on displays to complement the audio calls from the ELC system.
This solves instances where the crowd have sometimes been uncertain whether a ball was out or in.
Finally, with precisely 100 days to go until the start of the Championships, organizers have also revealed an increase in daily attendance at the qualifiers in the qualifying venue.
