Wimbledon will follow the American and Australian Opens in implementing replay systems.
Video review technology are set to arrive at Wimbledon for the 2025 edition.
Athletes will gain the ability to contest certain calls made by the chair umpire, mirroring the system currently in use at both the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
This innovation will be accessible on the main stadium and Court One throughout the tournament and on the other four featured courts when they are hosting singles contests.
This development comes just a season following the All England Club implemented electronic line calling, which effectively ended the longstanding role of line judges.
Scope of Challenges
Players cannot to challenge the accuracy of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the official to review other situations, such as:
- Whether a tennis ball has bounced twice.
- If a ball made contact with an opponent's racquet or person on the way past.
- Potential hindrance end of a point.
Notably, there is no cap on the number of reviews a competitor can request.
Practical Application
An illustrative example took place in Indian Wells recently, where Daniil Medvedev used the video challenge against Jack Draper.
The British player conceded it was a difficult situation for the umpire, but thought his rival had "played the rules quite well."
Official Aurelie Tourte watched a video and determined the player was responsible for hindrance, awarding the point to Medvedev.
Broader Adoption
Video reviews are not exclusive to major tournaments. It was adopted at the American major since 2023 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 video reviews in place at all of its tournaments.
Additional Innovations
A further change at Wimbledon 2025 will be the introduction of visual indicators on displays to support the audio calls from the electronic line calling system.
This addresses situations where spectators have sometimes been unsure whether a ball was in or out.
Finally, with exactly a century of days remaining until the beginning of the tournament, organizers have further revealed an increase in daily attendance at the qualifiers in Roehampton.
