After 147 years, line judges will no longer be present at Wimbledon as the All England Club will now switch to automated line calling starting the 2025 season.
In place of the judges calling the shots ‘out’ and ‘fault’ on a serve, the technology will now be the one to do the job for all qualifying and main draw matches. The All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said: “The decision to introduce Live Electronic Line Calling at The Championships was made following a significant period of consideration and consultation.”
She added: “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.”
“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,” Bolton explained.
In 2021 and 2022, the Australian Open and US Open adopted the electronic line calling respectively.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has forced Wimbledon to decide to implement the electronic line calling for the men’s tour starting 2025, and the women’s WTA Tour is headed the same way.
Following Wimbledon’s decision, the only major competition that still uses line judges is the French Open on clay.
Source: BBC