Wimbledon Introduces Video Replay Technology for the First Time.
The tournament joins the American and Australian Opens in employing video review technology.
Replay technology will make its debut at Wimbledon in the upcoming tournament.
Competitors are granted the ability to question particular calls made by the official, following the practice currently in operation at each of the US Open and the Aussie major.
This technology will be accessible on the main stadium and the number one court throughout the Championships and on the remaining featured courts when they are staging singles matches.
This step arrives only a season following the AELTC introduced ELC, which terminated the centuries-old role of line judges.
Scope of Challenges
Competitors cannot to challenge the call of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the umpire to review other situations, such as:
- Whether a ball has double-bounced.
- Whether a shot made contact with an opponent's racquet or person during play.
- Potential interference at the conclusion of a rally.
Importantly, there is no cap on the amount of reviews a player can request.
A Recent Example
An illustrative case took place in Indian Wells recently, where Daniil Medvedev used the review system against his opponent.
The British player admitted it was a difficult call for the official, but thought his opponent had "played the rules effectively."
The umpire viewed a replay and ruled the player was guilty of interference, granting the point to his opponent.
Growing Trend
Video reviews are not exclusive to Grand Slams. It has been in use at the US Open for two years and the Aussie Open this year.
Furthermore, it is becoming more common on the women’s WTA Tour, and by next season the ATP circuit plans to have the system implemented at all of its events.
Additional Innovations
Another innovation at Wimbledon 2025 involves the addition of visual indicators on scoreboards to support the audio calls from the ELC system.
This solves instances where the crowd have occasionally been uncertain if a ball was out or in.
Finally, with exactly 100 days remaining until the beginning of the tournament, organizers have also revealed an increase in daily attendance at the qualifying competition in Roehampton.
