New automated technology marks end of 147 years of tradition at All England Club
Wimbledon is to scrap the tournament’s line judges in favour of electronic line-calling from 2025, it was announced on Wednesday.
Uniformed umpires and line judges have been an integral part of the 147-year-old Grand Slam known for its traditions such as strawberries and cream and the all-white kit that players must wear.
However, Wimbledon has now fallen into line with other tournaments around the world, saying they must “balance tradition and innovation”.
The men’s ATP Tour in 2023 announced the tour-wide adoption of electronic line-calling (ELC) from 2025 in a move to “optimise accuracy and consistency across tournaments”, with the women’s WTA Tour heading in the same direction.
The technology is used at the Australian Open and US Open, though the French Open remains an outlier among the four Grand Slams.
The All England Club announced it would make the switch to live ELC from next year.
“The officiating technology will be in place for all Championships and qualifying match courts and cover the ‘out’ and ‘fault’ calls that have previously been made by line umpires,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.
