Tennis
Wimbledon Line Judges To Be Replaced With AI Technology From 2025
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All Wimbledon line judges will be heading to the job centre this week as the All England club announced they will be replacing them with artificial intelligence computer software from 2025. Leading many to ask – What’s next the ball boys and girls?
300 Wimbledon Line Judges Will Be Replaced With AI Technology At 2025 Championships
Wimbledon fortnight is reported to need around 300 line judges to oversee the matches – however, it seems these experienced officials will be surplus to requirements in 2025, with the Grand Slam event replacing them with AI computer technology.
Line judges have been a part of Wimbledon since 1877, so this high-tech move by the Championships will end a 147 year run – with many tennis fans questioning the decision and if this switch means the tournament will lose a lot of its history and tradition.
Wimbledon will introduce the new ELC (Electronic Line Calling) system from 2025 and it will be first on show at the qualifying week off-site at Roehampton, before being used for the main Championships over the first two weeks of July.
Wimbledon club chief executive Sally Bolton said
“The decision to introduce Live Electronic Line Calling at The Championships was made following a significant period of consideration and consultation,”
“Having reviewed the results of the testing undertaken at The Championships this year, 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.
“For the players, it will offer them the same conditions they have played under at a number of other events on tour.”
“We take our responsibility to balance tradition and innovation at Wimbledon very seriously.
“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.”
Wimbledon Covers More Than 650 Matches With Over 300 Line Judges
Over tournament fortnight, it’s reported that there are over 300 Wimbledon line judges that cover more than 650 matches.
These officials operate on a 60 minute on, and 60 minute off rota in order to freshen up.
Will Wimbledon’s Hawkeye Technology Still Be In Place?
Of course, added technology is no new thing at Wimbledon as the Hawkeye Technology has been in place since 2007. This system allowed players to call upon it to challenge calls the Wimbledon line judges made if they thought they were wrong.
If players got three wrong challenges (calls) in a set, they would lose their option to dispute a call until a tiebreak or have to wait until the next set.
However, these disputed calls will now be done automatically through the new Wimbledon AI ELC system – with an electronic voice calling ‘out’ or ‘fault’ within a tenth of a second of the ball hitting the court.
It’s also expected that this ELC AI technology will be implemented across the tour worldwide from 2025 – so line judges at the US Open, Australian Open and French Open should also be worried.
Will Wimbledon Ball Boys and Girls Be Replaced By AI Too?
This Wimbledon line judge move has also led some tennis lovers to wonder if the iconic ball boys and girls will be next.
The good news here is that Wimbledon doesn’t have any plans to replace them (at the moment) as this would need some sort of machine to collect the balls after each failed serve or point – which would only slow the game down you feel.
However, in the fast-paced world of AI, you certainly wouldn’t rule the ball boys and girls being replaced by a robot in the future – which would be a further ‘double fault’ for Wimbledon tennis fans that love the long traditions the only grass Grand Slam on the calendar has.
What Date Is Wimbledon 2025?
Wimbledon will run from Monday 30th June to Sunday 13th July.
While at this stage, the best tennis betting sites in the UK are making Carlos Alcaraz the favourite to win the mens and Aryna Sabalenka the fancy to win the womens.