London, Oct 9
Wimbledon will replace line judges with electronic line calling technology from 2025, the All England Lawn Tennis Club and the committee of management of The Championships announced on Wednesday. "The decision to adopt Live ELC was made following the successful completion of extensive testing during this year's Championships and builds on the existing ball tracking and line calling technology that has been in place for many years," it said.
The officiating technology known as 'Live Electronic Line Calling' (Live ELC) 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.
"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 several other events on tour," said Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Club.
"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," she added.
There have also been changes in the provisional schedule for The Championships final weekend with "the gentlemen's and ladies' doubles finals to commence at 1 pm, followed by the ladies' and gentlemen's singles finals at 4 pm, on the second Saturday and Sunday, respectively."
It means the ladies' singles finals will begin at 16:00, with the men's doubles at 13:00 on Saturday and the gentlemen's singles final at 16:00 and the ladies' doubles at 13:00 on Sunday.
The schedule for the singles semifinals will not change and the mixed doubles final will continue to be provisionally scheduled for the third match on the second Thursday.