You cannot be serious? Wimbledon to scrap major tradition after 147 years

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Wimbledon is to replace all of its line judges with Live Electronic Line Calling from 2025, the tournament's organisers have said.

In a major break from tradition, the championships will follow the lead of the other Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open and US Open, as well as a number of other tour events.

Hawk-Eye technology has been used on certain courts at Wimbledon since 2007, helping officials and allowing players to challenge line calls.

File photo dated 29/06/22 of Wimbledon Line Judges. Wimbledon will dispense with line judges next year in favour of Live Electronic Line Calling. The technology is already widely used in the sport, including at the Australian Open and US Open, and the All England Club has now made the decision to follow suit. Issue date: Wednesday October 9, 2024.

From 2025, the system will be fully automated across the entire site, including during qualifying at Roehampton.

It means line judges will no longer be required for the first time in the tournament's 147-year history.

The All England Club's chief executive Sally Bolton said organisers went through "a significant period of consideration and consultation" before deciding to make the switch.

Testing was carried out at last year's event, Ms Bolton said, and after seeing the results, the club has decided the technology is "sufficiently robust" to move to a fully automated system.

She said it means players will be competing under the same conditions they have played under at a number of other events on tour.

The club takes its responsibility to balance tradition and innovation at Wimbledon "very seriously," she added.

"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."

The French Open, which has relied solely on human officials, is now the outlier, although it may well follow suit, with all ATP Tour events to feature the technology from next year.

One major concern for Wimbledon had been the loss of a prestigious opportunity for officials and the effect this could have at the lower levels of the sport.

In another change to the schedule, next year's singles finals will move from 2pm on the final Saturday and Sunday to 4pm, with the men's and women's doubles finals to be held first at 1pm.

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