Wimbledon will follow the American and Aussie Opens in employing replay technology.
Video review technology are set to arrive at Wimbledon in the upcoming tournament.
Athletes are granted the option to contest specific calls from the official, echoing the protocol currently in use at both the American Grand Slam and the Australian Open.
This innovation will be accessible on Centre Court and Court One for the duration of the tournament and on the remaining featured courts when they are staging singles matches.
This step comes just a season following the All England Club introduced electronic line calling, which terminated the centuries-old role of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Competitors will not be permitted to challenge the accuracy of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the official to re-examine specific situations, such as:
- If a ball has double-bounced.
- Whether a shot made contact with an rival's racket or body during play.
- Potential hindrance at the conclusion of a point.
Notably, there will be no cap on the number of challenges a player can initiate.
A Recent Example
An illustrative case occurred in Indian Wells recently, where Daniil Medvedev initiated the video challenge against his opponent.
Draper conceded it was a difficult call for the umpire, but believed his rival had "played the rules quite well."
Official Aurelie Tourte watched a replay and determined Draper was responsible for hindrance, granting the point to his opponent.
Growing Trend
Video reviews are not new for Grand Slams. The system was adopted at the US Open for two years and the Aussie Open this year.
Additionally, it is increasingly prevalent on the WTA circuit, and by the coming year the ATP circuit plans to have video reviews implemented at all of its events.
Other Changes
A further change at The Championships this year will be the addition of visual indicators on displays to support the audio calls from the electronic line calling system.
This solves instances where spectators have sometimes been uncertain if a ball was out or in.
In other news, with precisely 100 days to go until the start of the Championships, the AELTC have further revealed an expansion in daily capacity at the qualifiers in Roehampton.
