Wimbledon to remove live judges, introduce electronic line calling from 2025 tournament, comments, reaction

Wimbledon is replacing line judges with electronic line-calling, as the oldest grand slam tournament takes another step into the modern age.

The All England Club confirmed the technology will be used to make the "out" and "fault" calls at the championships from 2025, eliminating the need for human officials to make them.

Organisers of the 147-year-old tournament said the decision to adopt live electronic line calling was made following extensive testing at the 2024 tournament and "builds on the existing ball-tracking and line-calling technology that has been in place for many years".

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Carlos Alcaraz won the 2024 Wimbledon tournament, the final to have live line judges. Getty

"We consider the technology to be sufficiently robust, and the time is right to take this important step in seeking maximum accuracy in our officiating," All England club chief executive Sally Bolton said.

"For the players, it will offer them the same conditions they have played under at a number of other events on tour."

The move makes Roland-Garros the only grand slam tournament without some form of electronic line-calling. The Australian and US Opens have already eliminated line judges and only have chair umpires on court.

Line judges at Wimbledon were dressed in famously elegant uniforms and, for traditionalists, were part of the furniture at the All England Club.

Bolton said Wimbledon had a responsibility to "balance tradition and innovation".

"Line umpires have played a central role in our officiating set-up at the championships for many decades, and we recognise their valuable contribution and thank them for their commitment and service," she said.

Line-calling technology has long been used at Wimbledon and other tennis tournaments to call whether serves are in or out.

A Wimbledon line judge makes an out call during the 2023 men's singles quarter final between Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev. Getty

At the US Open, there has been no line judges — and only chair umpires — since 2021, with Hawk-Eye Live electronic line-calling used for all courts.

The All England Club also confirmed the start times of the women's and men's singles finals would be pushed back to 4pm local time on the second Saturday and Sunday, respectively — and after doubles finals on those days.

Bolton said the moves have been made to ensure the day of the finals "builds towards the crescendo of the ladies' and gentlemen's singles finals, with our champions being crowned in front of the largest possible worldwide audience."

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