Wimbledon Embraces Video Replay System for the First Time.
Wimbledon will follow the American and Aussie Opens in employing video review systems.
Replay systems will make its debut at The Championships in the upcoming tournament.
Competitors will gain the right to contest specific decisions made by the official, mirroring the system already in use at each of 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 remaining featured courts when they are hosting singles contests.
This move comes just a year after the All England Club rolled out ELC, which effectively ended the longstanding tradition of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Players cannot to challenge the accuracy of the ELC system, but they can request the umpire to re-examine specific decisions, such as:
- If a ball has double-bounced.
- Whether a ball made contact with an rival's racket or person during play.
- Potential interference end of a point.
Notably, there will be an unlimited number on the amount of reviews a player can ask for.
A Recent Example
An illustrative case took place in a recent tournament last week, where Daniil Medvedev used the video challenge against his opponent.
Draper conceded it was a difficult situation for the umpire, but believed his opponent had "played the rules quite well."
Official Aurelie Tourte watched a replay and ruled the player was responsible for interference, awarding the rally to his opponent.
Growing Trend
This technology are not new for Grand Slams. It has been in use at the US Open for two years and the Australian Open this year.
Furthermore, it is increasingly prevalent on the women’s WTA Tour, and by the coming year the ATP circuit will have video reviews implemented at all of its events.
Further Updates
Another innovation at The Championships this year involves the introduction of visual indicators on displays to support the audio calls from the electronic line calling system.
This solves situations where fans have sometimes been uncertain whether a ball was in or out.
Finally, with exactly 100 days to go until the beginning of the Championships, the AELTC have further revealed an increase in daily attendance at the qualifiers in Roehampton.
