The tournament joins the American and Australian Opens in employing video review technology.
Replay technology will make its debut at The Championships in the upcoming tournament.
Athletes are granted the option to question specific calls from the official, mirroring the protocol currently in place at each of the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
This innovation 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 hosting singles matches.
This development comes just a season following the All England Club introduced ELC, which terminated the centuries-old tradition of line judges.
Reviewable Decisions
Competitors will not be permitted to challenge the call of the ELC system, but are allowed to request the umpire to re-examine specific decisions, including:
- If a ball has double-bounced.
- If a shot touched an rival's racket or body during play.
- Potential interference end of a rally.
Notably, there is an unlimited number on the number of reviews a competitor can request.
Practical Application
An illustrative case occurred in a recent tournament last week, where a top player used the video challenge against Jack Draper.
Draper admitted it was a difficult situation for the official, but believed his opponent had "used the regulations quite well."
The umpire viewed a video and ruled the player was responsible for hindrance, granting the rally to his opponent.
Wider Implementation
This technology aren't new for Grand Slams. It has been in use at the American major since 2023 and the Australian Open this year.
Furthermore, it is increasingly prevalent on the women’s WTA Tour, and by the coming year the men's ATP Tour will have video reviews in place at all of its events.
Further Updates
A further innovation at Wimbledon this year will be the addition 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 whether a ball was out or in.
In other news, with exactly 100 days remaining until the start of the tournament, organizers have further revealed an expansion in daily capacity at the qualifying competition in the qualifying venue.
