The tournament joins the US and Aussie Opens in employing video review technology.
Video review technology are set to arrive at Wimbledon this year.
Athletes are granted the right to question specific rulings from the official, echoing the system currently in place at both the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
This innovation is slated for use on the main stadium and Court One for the duration of the Championships and on the remaining show courts when they are staging singles matches.
This development comes just a year after the All England Club introduced electronic line calling, which terminated the 147-year role of line officials.
What Can Be Reviewed?
Players cannot to challenge the accuracy of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the umpire to re-examine other situations, including:
- If a ball has bounced twice.
- If a ball made contact with an rival's racket or body on the way past.
- Possible interference at the conclusion of a rally.
Notably, there is no cap on the amount of reviews a competitor can request.
Practical Application
An illustrative incident took place in Indian Wells recently, where a top player initiated the video challenge against his opponent.
Draper conceded it was a difficult situation for the official, but thought his rival had "played the rules quite well."
The umpire watched a video and determined the player was guilty of interference, granting the rally to his opponent.
Wider Implementation
This technology aren't exclusive to Grand Slams. The system has been in use at the US Open for two years and the Australian Open this year.
Furthermore, it is becoming more common on the women’s WTA Tour, and by next season the men's ATP Tour plans to have the system in place at every one of its events.
Further Updates
A further innovation at The Championships 2025 will be the introduction of graphical cues on scoreboards to support the audio calls from the electronic line calling system.
This solves situations where fans have sometimes been unsure whether a shot was in or out.
In other news, with exactly 100 days remaining until the start of the Championships, the AELTC have also announced an expansion in daily capacity at the qualifying competition in the qualifying venue.
