The tournament joins the American and Aussie Opens in employing video review systems.
Video review systems will be launched at Wimbledon this year.
Players are granted the right to challenge specific calls made by the chair umpire, mirroring the practice already in use at both the American Grand Slam and the Australian Open.
The new system will be operational on the main stadium and the number one court for the duration of the Championships and on the other four featured courts when they are hosting singles contests.
This development comes just a year after the All England Club rolled out ELC, which terminated the centuries-old tradition of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Competitors will not be permitted to dispute the call of the electronic line calling, but they can ask for the official to re-examine specific decisions, including:
- Whether a ball has double-bounced.
- If a ball touched an rival's racket or person during play.
- Possible interference at the conclusion of a rally.
Notably, there will be no limit on the amount of challenges a competitor can request.
A Recent Example
An illustrative incident occurred in Indian Wells recently, where Daniil Medvedev used the video challenge against his opponent.
Draper admitted it was a difficult situation for the official, but thought his rival had "played the rules effectively."
Official Aurelie Tourte viewed a replay and ruled the player was responsible for hindrance, granting the point to his opponent.
Growing Trend
This technology are not exclusive to Grand Slams. The system was adopted at the American major for two years and the Australian Open this year.
Furthermore, it is increasingly prevalent on the women’s WTA Tour, and by next season the ATP circuit will have the system implemented at all of its tournaments.
Additional Innovations
A further innovation at Wimbledon this year will be the introduction of graphical cues on scoreboards to support the audio calls from the ELC system.
This solves instances where fans have occasionally been unsure whether a shot was out or in.
In other news, with exactly 100 days to go until the beginning of the tournament, organizers have also announced an increase in daily capacity at the qualifiers in Roehampton.
