The tournament joins the US and Australian Opens in employing video review systems.
Replay technology will be launched at The Championships in the upcoming tournament.
Athletes are granted the ability to challenge specific rulings from the chair umpire, echoing the protocol already in use at both the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
This technology is slated for use on the main stadium and Court One for the duration of the tournament and on the other four show courts when they are staging singles matches.
This step follows just a season following the All England Club rolled out electronic line calling, which effectively ended the centuries-old tradition of line judges.
Scope of Challenges
Players will not be permitted to dispute the call of the electronic line calling, but they can request the umpire to re-examine other decisions, such as:
- Whether a ball has double-bounced.
- Whether a ball touched an rival's racket or person on the way past.
- Possible hindrance end of a rally.
Notably, there is no cap on the amount of reviews a competitor can request.
A Recent Example
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 tough call for the umpire, but believed his rival had "used the regulations quite well."
The umpire viewed a replay and ruled Draper was responsible for interference, awarding the rally to his opponent.
Broader Adoption
Video reviews aren't exclusive to major tournaments. The system has been in use at the American major for two years and the Australian Open this year.
Furthermore, 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 every one of its events.
Further Updates
A further innovation at The Championships 2025 will be the introduction of visual indicators on scoreboards to support the audio calls from the ELC system.
This addresses situations where spectators have sometimes been unsure if a ball was in or out.
Finally, with precisely a century of days remaining until the beginning of the tournament, the AELTC have also announced an increase in daily attendance at the qualifiers in the qualifying venue.
