The tournament joins the American and Australian Opens in employing replay technology.
Replay systems are set to arrive at The Championships for the 2025 edition.
Competitors are granted the ability to contest certain rulings from the chair umpire, echoing the practice currently in place at each of the American Grand Slam and the Australian Open.
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 staging singles matches.
This step arrives only a year after the AELTC introduced ELC, which brought an end to the 147-year tradition of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Competitors cannot to challenge the call of the ELC system, but are allowed to ask for the umpire to review other situations, such as:
- Whether a tennis ball has double-bounced.
- Whether a shot made contact with an rival's racket or body during play.
- Possible interference end of a point.
Notably, there will be no limit on the amount of reviews a competitor can request.
Case in Point
A recent incident took place in Indian Wells last week, where a top player initiated the video challenge against Jack Draper.
The British player admitted it was a tough call for the official, but thought his rival had "played the rules quite well."
Official Aurelie Tourte viewed a video and ruled Draper was guilty of hindrance, awarding the rally to his opponent.
Growing Trend
This technology aren't exclusive to Grand Slams. It has been in use at the US Open since 2023 and the Aussie Open since 2025.
Furthermore, it is becoming more common on the women’s WTA Tour, and by next season the men's ATP Tour plans to have video reviews in place at every one of its tournaments.
Further Updates
Another change at The Championships 2025 will be the addition of graphical cues on scoreboards to complement the verbal announcements from the ELC system.
This addresses situations where spectators have sometimes been unsure if a ball was in or out.
Finally, with exactly a century of days remaining until the beginning of the Championships, the AELTC have further announced an increase in daily attendance at the qualifiers in the qualifying venue.
