The tournament joins the US and Australian Opens in implementing replay systems.
Replay systems will make its debut at Wimbledon this year.
Athletes are granted the right to contest specific calls from the chair umpire, following the system already in operation at each of the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
The new system is slated for use on the main stadium and the number one court throughout the tournament and on the other four featured courts when they are hosting singles matches.
This step comes just a year after the AELTC introduced ELC, which effectively ended the centuries-old role of line judges.
Scope of Challenges
Competitors cannot to dispute the accuracy of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the official to re-examine specific situations, such as:
- If a ball has double-bounced.
- Whether a shot touched an opponent's racquet or person on the way past.
- Potential interference end of a rally.
Importantly, there will be no cap on the number of reviews a competitor can initiate.
A Recent Example
An illustrative incident occurred in Indian Wells last week, where Daniil Medvedev used the video challenge against his opponent.
Draper conceded it was a tough call for the official, but believed his opponent had "played the rules effectively."
The umpire watched a video and determined the player was responsible for hindrance, granting the rally to his opponent.
Growing Trend
This technology are not new for major tournaments. It has been in use at the US Open since 2023 and the Aussie Open this year.
Furthermore, it is increasingly prevalent on the WTA circuit, and by next season the men's ATP Tour will have video reviews implemented at every one of its events.
Other Changes
Another innovation at The Championships this year involves the addition of graphical cues on scoreboards to complement the verbal announcements from the ELC system.
This solves situations where fans have sometimes been uncertain if a ball was out or in.
Finally, with exactly 100 days to go until the beginning of the Championships, organizers have also announced an expansion in daily capacity at the qualifiers in Roehampton.
