Wimbledon Adopts Video Challenge System in 2025.
The tournament joins the US and Australian Opens in employing video review systems.
Replay systems are set to arrive at Wimbledon in the upcoming tournament.
Players are granted the ability to question particular calls from the chair umpire, echoing the system already in operation at each of the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
This innovation will be accessible on Centre Court and Court One throughout the Championships and on the remaining show courts when they are hosting singles matches.
This step comes just a year after the AELTC introduced ELC, which effectively ended the longstanding tradition of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Players cannot to challenge the accuracy of the ELC system, but they can request the official to re-examine other situations, including:
- If a ball has double-bounced.
- If a shot touched an rival's racket or person during play.
- Potential interference at the conclusion of a rally.
Notably, there will be no limit on the number of reviews a competitor can ask for.
Practical Application
An illustrative example took place in Indian Wells recently, where Daniil Medvedev initiated the review system against his opponent.
Draper conceded it was a difficult call for the official, but believed his rival had "played the rules quite well."
The umpire viewed a video and ruled the player was guilty of interference, awarding the point to his opponent.
Wider Implementation
Video reviews are not new for major tournaments. The system was adopted at the US Open for two years and the Australian Open since 2025.
Additionally, it is increasingly prevalent on the WTA circuit, and by the coming year the ATP circuit plans to have video reviews in place at every one of its events.
Other Changes
Another change at Wimbledon 2025 will be the addition of visual indicators on scoreboards to support the audio calls from the ELC system.
This addresses situations where fans have sometimes been uncertain if a ball was in or out.
Finally, with exactly 100 days remaining until the beginning of the tournament, organizers have also revealed an increase in daily capacity at the qualifiers in the qualifying venue.
