Tennis

You cannot be serious? Wimbledon abolishes line judges after 147 years

Live Electronic Line Calling will replace officials in 2025 tournament

Wimbledon will replace line judges with electronic line calling from next year's tournament. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Wimbledon will replace line judges with electronic line calling from next year's tournament. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Tumaini Carayol
Wed Oct 09 2024 - 12:34

Tennis matches at Wimbledon will be held without line judges for the first time in the tournament’s history, with live electronic line calling (ELC) replacing human officials from the 2025 edition of the championships onwards. The sight of immaculately dressed line judges standing or crouching at the side and back of the grass courts has been a feature at the Grand Slam for 147 years.

Next year, the technology will be used on all courts in both the main draw at the All England Club and the qualifying tournament off site in Roehampton. ELC technology was successfully tested during this year’s championships.

Sally Bolton, Wimbledon’s chief executive, said: “The decision to introduce Live Electronic Line Calling at the Championships was made following a significant period of consideration and consultation. Having reviewed the results of the testing undertaken at the Championships this year, we consider the technology to be sufficiently robust and the time is right to take this important step in seeking maximum accuracy in our officiating. For the players, it will offer them the same conditions they have played under at a number of other events on tour.”

While the move represents a historic change for the tournament, it also simply reflects the direction in which the rest of the sport has been moving for some time. As tournaments returned following the pandemic hiatus in 2020 and attempted to continue through Covid restrictions, some of the biggest events, including the US Open that year, began to adopt ELC on a limited number of courts.

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Since then, ELC has increasingly become prevalent in the sport at tournaments around the world, allowing for quicker and more accurate line calling plus far fewer contentious calls.

The Australian Open became the first Grand Slam to be held without line judges on any courts and the US Open opted to remove line judges. Last year, the ATP announced that ELC would be adopted at all ATP Tour events on every court from 2025 onwards.

Hawk-Eye Live, an ELC system, works by placing 12 tracking cameras around each court, which provide accurate projections of the trajectory and bounce of each ball. The natural surfaces, clay and grass, have required further testing than hard courts. Wimbledon’s announcement leaves the French Open as the only Grand Slam tournament yet to commit to ELC.

In addition to providing jobs for officials during each tournament, the presence of line judges on-court has often offered additional sponsorship, with Wimbledon’s line judges wearing Ralph Lauren clothing each year.

“We take our responsibility to balance tradition and innovation at Wimbledon very seriously. Line umpires have played a central role in our officiating set-up at the Championships for many decades and we recognise their valuable contribution and thank them for their commitment and service,” said Bolton.

Additionally, the All England Club announced a significant change to the scheduling of the tournament’s final weekend. The singles finals have traditionally started at 2pm but from next year, both the women’s and men’s singles finals will be moved to 4pm. The shift will move the finals closer to the evening, which will provide a better viewing window for fans in North and South America. – Guardian