Wimbledon will follow the American and Australian Opens in employing replay technology.
Replay systems will be launched at The Championships in the upcoming tournament.
Competitors are granted the option to question specific calls from the chair umpire, following the protocol currently in place at each of the US Open and the Australian Open.
The new system will be operational on Centre Court and Court One throughout the tournament and on the other four featured courts when they are staging singles matches.
This move arrives only a season following the All England Club implemented electronic line calling, which terminated the longstanding tradition of line officials.
What Can Be Reviewed?
Players cannot to challenge the accuracy of the electronic line calling, but they can request the umpire to review other situations, including:
- Whether a tennis ball has bounced twice.
- If a shot touched an opponent's racquet or body during play.
- Potential interference end of a point.
Notably, there will be an unlimited number on the amount of reviews a player can request.
Practical Application
A recent case took place in Indian Wells last week, where Daniil Medvedev initiated the video challenge against Jack Draper.
Draper conceded it was a tough call for the umpire, but thought his rival had "played the rules effectively."
Official Aurelie Tourte watched a video and ruled the player was guilty of hindrance, granting the rally to his opponent.
Wider Implementation
Video reviews are not exclusive to major tournaments. The system has been in use at the American major for two years 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 will have video reviews in place at every one of its tournaments.
Further Updates
A further innovation at Wimbledon this year involves the addition of visual indicators on scoreboards to complement the audio calls from the electronic line calling system.
This solves situations where the crowd have sometimes been unsure if a shot was out or in.
In other news, with precisely a century of days to go until the start of the Championships, the AELTC have further announced an increase in daily capacity at the qualifiers in the qualifying venue.
