The tournament joins the US and Aussie Opens in employing replay technology.
Replay technology are set to arrive at The Championships in the upcoming tournament.
Players are granted the ability to challenge particular rulings made by the official, mirroring the system currently in operation at each of the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
This innovation will be operational on the main stadium and Court One throughout the tournament and on the other four show courts when they are hosting singles contests.
This move arrives only a year after the All England Club introduced ELC, which effectively ended the longstanding tradition of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Players cannot to challenge the accuracy of the electronic line calling, but they can request the umpire to re-examine other decisions, such as:
- Whether a tennis ball has double-bounced.
- Whether a ball made contact with an opponent's racquet or body during play.
- Possible hindrance end of a point.
Notably, there is no cap on the number of reviews a competitor can initiate.
Case in Point
A recent example occurred in Indian Wells recently, where a top player initiated the video challenge against Jack Draper.
The British player admitted it was a tough call for the umpire, but thought his opponent had "played the rules quite well."
The umpire watched a video and determined Draper was responsible for interference, awarding the point to his opponent.
Wider Implementation
This technology aren't exclusive to major tournaments. It has been in use at the US Open for two years and the Aussie Open this year.
Additionally, it is becoming more common on the women’s WTA Tour, and by the coming year the men's ATP Tour plans to have the system implemented at all of its tournaments.
Other Changes
Another innovation at Wimbledon this year involves the addition of graphical cues on displays to complement the audio calls from the electronic line calling system.
This addresses instances where fans have sometimes been uncertain whether a shot was in or out.
In other news, with exactly a century of days remaining until the start of the tournament, the AELTC have further revealed an increase in daily capacity at the qualifiers in Roehampton.
