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Tom Hamilton, Senior Writer
Line judges will be scrapped at next year’s Wimbledon championships and replaced by artificial intelligence-powered line calling, the All England Club (AELTC) confirmed in Wednesday.
The installation of automated electronic line calling (ELC) will be rolled out across all 18 courts at the AELTC next year, meaning it will be the first time in 147 years there will be no human line-judging officials.
Similar systems have been rolled out across various tournaments over the past couple of years, with the US Open adopting the Hawk-Eye Live system in the 2020 slam. It has since become more regular on the ATP Tour and is set to be rolled out across their program from 2025.
This will see the challenge-concept dropped at Wimbledon, with automated voice calls utilised to judge line calls and is an extension of the Hawk-Eye powered “existing ball tracking and line calling technology that has been in place for many years,” according to a press release from the AELTC.
“The decision to introduce Live Electronic Line Calling at The Championships was made following a significant period of consideration and consultation,” Sally Bolton, CEO of the AELTC, said.
“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.”
The AELTC has also announced the women’s and men’s singles finals will start at a later time next year. Both will have provisional start times of 4 p.m. local — with the women’s singles final following the men’s doubles, and the men’s singles final following the women’s doubles.