Wimbledon to replace linesmen with electronic phone call technology for 2025 championships – “The time is right”

Line judges will no longer be used at Wimbledon from next year and electronic telephone lines are to be introduced for the 2025 championships.

The All England Club announced the changes on Wednesday, as well as an updated schedule for last weekend that will see the men’s and women’s singles finals begin later in the afternoon.

The decision to move away from linesmen will give the tournament a different look compared to next year.

Instead, Live Electronic Line Calling (Live ELC) technology will be used in all qualifying and main round matches on all pitches and will automate the “out” and “error” calls previously made by referees.

“The decision to introduce Live ELC was made following the successful completion of extensive testing during this year’s championships and builds on existing ball tracking and line calling technology that has been in use for many years,” it said in a statement.

The move comes after the ATP Tour decided to adopt Live ELC for the 2025 season, while other Grand Slam events such as the Australian Open and US Open adopted the system in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

“The decision to introduce live electronic line calling to the Championships was taken after a lengthy period of consideration and consultation,” said Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Club.

“After reviewing the results of the tests carried out at this year’s championships, we believe that the technology is sufficiently robust and that it is time to take this important step to achieve maximum accuracy in our tasks.

“For the players it offers the same conditions they have played in 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 Championship refereeing structure for many decades and we recognize their valuable contribution and thank them for their commitment and service.”

The All England Club also announced that from next year there will be changes to the schedule of the final four days of play on Center Court.

The provisional schedule now sees the men’s and women’s doubles finals at 1pm UK time, followed by the women’s and men’s singles finals at 4pm last Saturday and Sunday respectively.

The schedule for the singles semi-finals remains unchanged, starting at 1:30 p.m. on the last Thursday and Friday, while the mixed doubles final will again be played as the third game on the second Thursday.

Previously, the individual finals for both men and women began two hours earlier at 2:00 p.m.

“We have adjusted the tentative schedule for the final weekend of the championships to improve the experience for everyone involved,” Bolton explained.

“The doubles players competing in the final will have more certainty about their schedule and fans will enjoy the daily play building to the crescendo of the women’s and men’s singles finals and our champions being crowned in front of the largest possible global audience.”

Next year’s Wimbledon will be the 138th edition of the Championships, with the tournament scheduled to take place from June 30 to July 13, 2025.