Wimbledon will follow the American and Australian Opens in employing replay systems.
Video review systems will be launched at Wimbledon this year.
Athletes will gain the right to question specific decisions from the chair umpire, following the system already in use at each of the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
The new system will be operational on Centre Court and Court One throughout the Championships and on the remaining show courts when they are staging singles contests.
This move arrives only a season following the AELTC rolled out ELC, which terminated the longstanding role of line judges.
What Can Be Reviewed?
Players will not be permitted to dispute the call of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the umpire to re-examine other situations, including:
- If a tennis ball has bounced twice.
- Whether a shot made contact with an opponent's racquet or body on the way past.
- Possible interference end of a point.
Notably, there is no cap on the number of challenges a player can request.
Case in Point
An illustrative incident took place in a recent tournament last week, where Daniil Medvedev initiated the video challenge against Jack Draper.
Draper conceded it was a tough situation for the official, but thought his rival had "played the rules effectively."
The umpire watched a video and determined Draper was responsible for hindrance, granting the rally to his opponent.
Growing Trend
Video reviews aren't new for major tournaments. It was adopted at the American major since 2023 and the Aussie Open this year.
Additionally, it is becoming more common on the WTA circuit, and by next season the ATP circuit will have video reviews implemented at all of its events.
Additional Innovations
A further change at Wimbledon this year involves the introduction of visual indicators on displays to complement the audio calls from the electronic line calling system.
This solves situations where spectators have sometimes been uncertain whether a ball was in or out.
Finally, with precisely a century of days remaining until the beginning of the tournament, the AELTC have also revealed an expansion in daily attendance at the qualifying competition in Roehampton.
