Wimbledon will follow the American and Australian Opens in employing video review systems.
Video review systems are set to arrive at Wimbledon in the upcoming tournament.
Athletes are granted the ability to question certain calls made by the official, following the system already in use at both the American Grand Slam and the Australian Open.
The new system will be operational 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 development arrives only a year after the All England Club introduced ELC, which brought an end to the centuries-old role of line judges.
Reviewable Decisions
Players will not be permitted to challenge the accuracy of the ELC system, but are allowed to request the official to review other decisions, including:
- Whether a ball has bounced twice.
- Whether a shot made contact with an opponent's racquet or person during play.
- Possible hindrance at the conclusion of a rally.
Notably, there will be no limit on the number of challenges a competitor can request.
Case in Point
An illustrative example occurred in a recent tournament recently, where Daniil Medvedev initiated the review system against Jack Draper.
The British player conceded it was a difficult situation for the umpire, but thought his opponent had "used the regulations quite well."
The umpire watched a replay and ruled Draper was responsible for interference, awarding the rally to Medvedev.
Growing Trend
Video reviews are not new for major tournaments. It was adopted at the American major for two years and the Aussie Open this year.
Furthermore, it is becoming more common on the WTA circuit, and by the coming year the ATP circuit plans to have video reviews implemented at every one of its tournaments.
Additional Innovations
A further change at Wimbledon this year will be the addition of visual indicators on displays to support the verbal announcements from the electronic line calling system.
This solves instances where the crowd have occasionally been uncertain if a shot was in or out.
Finally, with exactly 100 days to go until the beginning of the tournament, the AELTC have also announced an expansion in daily attendance at the qualifying competition in Roehampton.
