The tournament joins the American and Aussie Opens in employing video review technology.
Video review technology will be launched at The Championships this year.
Competitors will gain the ability to challenge specific rulings from the chair umpire, following the practice already in place at each of the US Open and the Australian Open.
This technology will be operational on Centre Court and Court One for the duration of the Championships and on the remaining featured courts when they are hosting singles matches.
This move follows just a season following the All England Club rolled out ELC, which terminated the longstanding tradition of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Competitors will not be permitted to dispute the accuracy of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the umpire to review specific situations, including:
- If a ball has double-bounced.
- If a shot touched an opponent's racquet or body on the way past.
- Possible interference end of a point.
Importantly, there will be no limit on the number of reviews a player can initiate.
A Recent Example
An illustrative incident occurred in a recent tournament recently, where Daniil Medvedev initiated the video challenge against Jack Draper.
Draper admitted it was a tough call for the umpire, but believed his rival had "used the regulations effectively."
The umpire watched a video and ruled the player was guilty of hindrance, granting the rally to Medvedev.
Growing Trend
Video reviews are not exclusive to Grand Slams. The system has been in use at the US Open for two years and the Aussie 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 will have the system implemented at all of its tournaments.
Additional Innovations
Another change at The Championships this year will be the introduction of visual indicators on displays to support the audio calls from the ELC system.
This addresses situations where the crowd have occasionally been uncertain if a ball was in or out.
In other news, with precisely a century of days to go until the beginning of the Championships, organizers have further announced an expansion in daily attendance at the qualifiers in Roehampton.
