The line umpires who officiate matches during the Wimbledon championships will be replaced by Live Electronic Line Calling (Live ELC) next year, breaking a 147-year tradition.
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club has announced that, from 2025, officiating technology will be in place for all championships and qualifying match courts. This Live ELC technology, called Hawk-Eye Live, will be used to give the ‘out’ and ‘fault’ calls.
To ensure that a match or tournament is conducted according to the International Tennis Federation rules of tennis and other competition regulations, officials preside over the court.
These include line umpires, who are usually each assigned a line and will call if a shot lands outside a line or indicate if it was in.
From 2025, the Live ELC technology will replace the 327 line umpires currently employed to cover more than 650 matches played during the fortnight of Wimbledon across 18 courts.
Electronic technology has been used at Wimbledon for many years, including ball tracking and line-calling technology.
The Live ELC tech builds on this and, following the successful completion of extensive testing during this year’s championships, will now officially be used to replace ‘human eyes’.
Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Club, said: “The decision to introduce Live ELC at the championships was made following a significant period of consideration and consultation.
“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.”
The system that will be implemented at Wimbledon for the 2025 tournament tracks the ball’s movement through 12 cameras strategically placed on every court.
There are also microphones on the court to listen to the sound of the ball, and a computer interprets the ball’s location in real-time.
Wimbledon is not the first tournament to implement AI tech for line calling – the Australian Open and US Open eliminated line umpires in 2021 and 2022.
However, the All England Club is aware that this break in a 147-year tradition will have opposition because the line umpires in their smart uniforms are such a well-loved feature of the court.
Bolton said: “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.”